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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap... 



.....Cq 
Shelf. 






UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



DOCTRINE AND LIFE, 

-by- 

IOWA WRITERS. 



EDITED 

BY 

G/ L BROKA V, A, M,, 

EDITOR OF 

THE CHRISTIAN INDEX, 



DES MOINES, lOI^A : 

CHRISTIAN INDEX, Publishing Co, 

1898. 



^/ 



K- 



2i:5B9 



Entered according o act of Congress, in the year 1898, by 
GEO. L. BROKAW, . 

In the Office of the Libraria^i of Congress, at Washington, D 

:v;acopiE:s keg:" ' 



f DEC 2 3 



\ /> 




b^r^rv-^ 




G. L. Brokaw 



TO THE 

CHURCHES OF CHRIST 

IN IOWA, TO 

Those wlao are callel Christians or Disci- 
ples of Christ, among -whom the author 
has spent about a quarter of a century 
and from -whom he has received so 
many tokens of brotherly love and 
Christian fellowship in his pastor- 
al work, in his evangelistic "work 
and in his labors in establish- 
ing "The Christian Index," 
this volume is affectionate- 
ly dedicated hoping that 
it may bless thousands 
of hearts and homes. 

The EDITOR. 



INTRODUCTION. 

A book of gospel sermons presents the truth that 
saves. The truth printed in a book is supplementary 
to, but not a substitute for, the preaching from the pul- 
pit and from house to house. ''God has chosen by the 
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe," 
and the printed page will never take the place of the 
living man of God who stands face to face with the liv- 
ing people to instruct, convict and persuade them to 
become Christians and to live the new life. 

We believe in the "living pulpit." We also be- 
lieve in the use of press-power that the people may 
read the glad tidings of salvation through Christ, 
Before we saw the light of the sun this morning more 
printed matter was sent out to the people than was in 
existence in all the earth at the beginning of this cen- 
tury. If the "children of this world," in their wisdom, 
are using the mighty press-power to propagate polit- 
ical opinions, scientific theories, facts, fiction, fables, 
Ac, should not the "children of light " use that power 
to enlighten and save the world? We answer, yes, 
and aim to contribute our little to that end. 

This book will, we trust, be especially helpful to 
our preachers, not only of Iowa but of other states. 
They can study these addresses to profit without 
plagiarism. We learn from each other, and, if we can 
not hear other preachers often we are thankful we can 
read what they have written. It is customary in some 



6 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

places, in the absence of the regular minister, for some 
other member to read a sermon. This book may be 
thus used to edify. Then there are the "shut-ins"— 
the kind-hearted ones who, on account of sickness or 
other causes, are denied the privilege of attending 
church services; these may spend a quiet, joyful hour 
in reading from this book ; and the pictures and bio- 
graphical sketches accompanying the sermons will 
somewhat take the place of the living preacher. 

We rejoice in the purity, push and pulpit-pow^r 
of our Iowa preachers, not only of those who have 
helped us in making this book, but those also, just as 
worthy, whose names are not found here (but will be 
found in a later volume we trust). They have surely 
won the attention of the "Hawkeyes." Since the writer 
moved to Des Moines (about eight years ago) the Disci- 
ples of Christ have increased in numbers in Iowa from 
22,500 in 1890 to 56,000 in 1898. They have seen the un- 
believer surrender to Christ. He was without God and 
without hope in the world. He had read infidel books 
and tried various systems of human philosophy and 
found them wanting. He was left in th e dark as to his 
origin, duty and destiny. He was between two black 
inpenetrable curtains which nothing has ever drawn 
aside. "What think ye of Christ?" was the question 
presented by the evangelist, and it was answered in 
the light of God's Revelation. The unbeliever was 
brought from darkness into light and from the power 
of Satan unto God. The honest doubter became the 
obedieat believer, walking in the light of the Sun of 
Righteousness. They have seen the bewildered believer— be 
wilderedon account of divisions among professed Christ- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 7 

ians — led to enjoy unity in Christ He was puzzled be- 
cause Christians differ as they do, and wondered why 
there were so many churches, when the Book said 
Christ established but one. His little child of tender 
years wrestled with the same problems. She looked at 
papa and then at mamma and then said, "I don't 
know what Church to join. " The bible basis of union 
was presented by the evangelist and the result was a 
united family, united in Christ, and working together 
in the church of Christ for the union of Christians and 
the conversion of the world. Does not this indicate 
that our preachers succeed in their business — winning 
souls to Christ and holding them in loving union as 
members of the Church of God? 

"Leave out the men; put in the truth," writes a 
good friend in reference to this book. The main thing 
is to present the truth ; but we believe when the people 
know something of the men who write they will be 
more interested in the truth they present. Our editors 
have learned that the readers wish to know whose 
words they are reading. "Sign your name" is the 
editorial command. Hence we insert the biographical 
sketches and half-tone cuts. "Raccoon" John Smith 
of Kentucky was once introduced to a stranger in the 
flesh, and asked if he Knew him. "Know him? " said 
Bro. Smith, "I don't know the outside of Mm yeC We 
may know more of the "inner man" — the soul — by 
reading the words written by an individual, and more 
of the "outer man" — the body — by seeing the half- 
tone pictures. 

We have "Iowa writers " who can produce what 
is readable, saleable and edifying. Our experienced 



8 DOCTRINE AKD LIFE 

writers are few. Many of our preachers never wrote 
out a sermon in full. Some of them can hold an audi- 
ence spell-bound for hours night after night in meet- 
ings, and yet can not write a page with legible hand. 
One reason we had for starting the Christian Index was 
that we might help to educate writers. We need to 
present the truth on printed pages in neat, attractive 
and persuasive form. Shall Presbyterians, Congrega- 
tionalists, Baptists and others write all our books for 
the library ? They may write good books but do not 
present the apostolic plea for the unity of the church 
that the world needs ; and that we are bound to present 
with power by using printer's ink as well as by spoken 
word. 

There is a deep-seated prejudice against doctrinal 
sermons. This is doubtless because the "doctrines of 
men" have been preached instead of the doctrine of 
Christ, "We believe in doctri no -practical sermons, 
or practico-doctrinal sermons; because doctrine and 
practice are united in the New Testament — ''What God 
hath joined together let not man put asunder." The 
soul is satisfied when the doctrine of Christ is received; 
and the soul is happy when that doctrine is obeyed. 
"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine," is the 
divine direction to Timothy ; and the strong reason for 
doing this is given : ' 'for by so doing thou shalt both 
save thyself and those that hear thee." In our plan for 
this book we endeavored to arrange to have "Doctrine 
and Life" presented in proper proportions. Disciples 
of Christ have been charged with putting doctrine to 
the front and neglecting the Christian graces; also of 
* 'making too much of baptism." Our mission is not to 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 9 

preach baptism — one ordinance of Christ — but to de- 
clare all the counse 1 of God . We have often said if we 
thought baptism was the essential thing we would join 
another church and wear the name Baptist; but we 
believe preaching Christ to be the essential thing and 
we wear the name — Christian — that pledges us to all 
human duty. We do not claim to be infallible and may- 
have preached too much on the ordinance of baptism. 
After reading every article prepared for this book we 
feel like apologizing for these ''Iowa Writers" because 
they have not said more on the subject of baptism. 
However, they have relied upon preaching Christ, 
assured that if He is enthroned in the hearts of the people 
they will he baptized^ live right after baptism, and, as soul- 
savers, cause rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God. 

We are making history in preparing a book of this 
kind; we are presenting the thoughts of living men 
who have given us addresses on practical present-day 
problems; these show something of the people now liv- 
ing in this state in the year 1898, and also present the 
* 'doctrine and life" of Disciples of Christ. r" 



CONTENTS. 

1 THE DEATH OF CHRIST 19 

H. W. EVEREST. 

2 WHAT IS EXPECTED OF A PREACHER 53 

J, A. SEAT ON, 

3 GIVING, NOT LAW BUT LOVE 67 

A. M. HAGGARD, 

4. HOWTOLIVE 81 

W. M. HOLLETT. 

5 THE TRUE DIGNITY OF MAN 95 

P, D^HOLLOWAY. 

6 PERSUASION CONCERNING JESUS 113 

EDGAR D. PRICE, 

7 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 123 

M, a WILSON, 

8 UNMISTAKABLE PROOF 139 

J, A. BENNETT, 

9 THE BATTLE OF LIFE 151 

B. S. DENNY. 

10 THE CHURCH AND THE SALOON 167 

GEO. F. DEVOL, 

1 1 THE CHURCH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT . . 179 

C. A. GRAY. 

12 REGENERATION 197 

LAWRENCE WRIGWu 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 11 

13 EVIDENCE OF PARDON 215 

J. W. VANDEWALKER. 

14 RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIIT 227 

W B CREWDSON. 

15 THE GROWTH OF THE DIVINE LIFE IN THE 

SOUL 243 

G, TT. BURGH, 

16 THE NAME QUESTION 263 

J. WILL WALTERS. 

17 CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOME 283 

0. H. KING, 

18 PURE RELIGION 301 

J. E, DENTON. 

19 PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY 319 

D. A. WIGKIZER. 

20 THE WORD OP FAITH 337 

T. F. ODENWELLER. 

21 WORSHIP 355 

WM. BAYAYD CRAIG. 

22 THE PLACE AND FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT . 373 

/. N McCASH. 

23 LORD'S DAY OBSERVANCE 389 

SUMNER T. MARTIN. 

24: CONVERSION 415 

F. H. LEMON. 

25 THE MINISTER AND PUGILISTIC PREACH- 

ING 431 

A. E. CORY. 

26 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL A RELIGIOUS FAC- 

TOR 445 

WM. B. CLEMMER. 



12 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

27 THE UNREASONABLENESS OF INFIDELITY 

461 

JAMES SMALL. 

28 A WORLD-WIDE CRUSADE FOR CHRIST ... 479 

H. 0, BREEDEN. 



INDEX. 



Atonement 26-29,84 

Attending Church 58,360 

Ark of Safety - 118 

Aloe Plant 119 

Amputation 134 

Angels 162 

Applied Christianity 322 

A World-wide Crusade 481 

Breeden, O. H 479 

Burch, G. W 243 

Bennett, J. A 139 

Brokaw, G. L 502 

Battle of Life -...153 

Battle of Jesus 86 

Baptism of Jesus 82 

Bread Alone 87 

Brotherly Love 1*7 

Beginning of the Church 184 

Birth, The New 201 

Born of God 208 

Bible School -.296 

Craig, Wm. Bayard 355 

Crewdson, W. B 227 

Cory, A. E 431 

Glemmer, W. B 445 

Campbell, Alex 438 

Church Divine 168, 268 

Church of the New Testament..! 81 

Church and Saloon 168 

Church Restored 193 

Church Discipline ...126 

Christian Zeal 49 

Cross 49 

Children 62,287,291,295 

Crusade, World-wide ..481 

Conversion 418 

Conversion, Active 423 

Creation 418 

Co-operation 376 

Confession 345 



Creed 270,339,347 

Christianity, Practical 321 

Christ, Founder of the Church.. 186 

Christ Cleanseth 306 

Child, the Key 450 

Child and >£*»rch 455 

Conscience, S. S 457 

Denny, B. S 151 

Denton, J. E 301 

Devol, Geo. F 167 

Death of Christ 22 

Discipline, Church 126,136.191 

Dignity of Man 97 

Divinity of Christ 25,41,232 

Deceit' 155 

Drunkards 170 

Drunkenness 171 

Doubt Removed 224 

Death 297 

Doves 339 

Depravity... 420 

Everest, H. W 19 

Evidence of Pardon 217 

Erring Preachers 56 

Example, Power of 84 

Evolution 99 

Education 126,130 

Essential Elements 182 

Exhortation 239 

Faith 42, 386 

Faith, The Word of 339 

Faith, Strong 352 

Faith Reasonable ...468 

Fruit of the Spirit 182 

Future Life... 474 

Gray, C. A 179 

Giving, Not Law But Love 68 

Growth of the Divine Life 246 

Growth, A Secret 247,249 

Growth a Process 251 



14 



DOCTRINE AND LIFE 



Giving by Practice 69 

Giving Enriches 74 

Gospel 47 

Gospel Order 204 

God is Love 143 

Growtn Gradual 252 

Good Deeds 307 

Gifts Varv 3 32 

Gold of Human Life 381 

Gentleness 385 

Goodness 385 

God 462 

Haggard, A. M ...: 67 

Holloway, P. D 95 

HoUett, W. M _ 81 

Holy Spirit, Resisting 230 

Holy Spirit, Place of 376 

How to Live 82 

Home, Christianity in the 286 

Home Life 287 

Home Work 288 

Home-keepers ..289 

Husbands 291 

Home Broken 297 

Heart Changed 304 

Home Class 4 52 

Immortality 101 

Infidelity 145 

Infidelity Unreasonable 462 

Infidelity, Criticisms of 472 

Immortal 475 

Jesus, Persuasion Concerning.. 1 14 

Jesus exalted 32 

Jesus the Carpenter 82 

Jesus tempted 160 

Joy 384 

King, O.H 283 

Knowledge 219 

Lemon, F. H 415 

Live, How to 82 

Law of giving 68 

Love of God 26,38 

Love 384 

Law 3 5 

Law of Love 69,441,310 

Legion, The Tenth 72 

Love's lesson _76 

Loyal in baptism 84 

Living by the Word 88 

Life prolonged 90 

Persuade lUsci pies 116 



Law of Offences 132 

Love wins „146 

Lodges 287 

Letter, Church 304 

Liberty 348 

Lord's Table 363 

Lord's day service 368 

Lord's day observance 391 

Lord's day and Sabbath 394 

Lord's day, Man's need of 401 

Martin, Sumner T .389 

McCash, I. N 373 

McGarvey, J. W 222 

Man's dignity 97 

Man's position 100 

Man's relation to God 102 

Man God's agent 163 

Millionaire 77 

xMoney, The Love of 68 

Minister of Christ 55 

Miraculous 23 

Missionary 481 

Missions, Moravian 485. 

Missions, British 486 

Missions, Japan _487 

Missions, African 489 

Missions, Island 491 

Missions, Victorious 500 

Mountain of Revelation 352 

Marriage 328 

Mysticism 201 

Members? Who are 188 

Membership, Terms of 186 

Name Question 265 

Nation exalted ...90 

Names we wear 192 

Names, Sectarian 275 

Name Christian 277 

National needs 313 

Neglect of duty _325 

Odcnweller, T. F 337 

Obedience 85 

Officers of the church 190 

Observance, Lord's day 391 

Price, Edgar D. 113 

Pardon, Evidence of „21 7 

Pardoned 36,40,41,46 

Proof, Unmistakable 1 42- 

Persuasion concerning Jesus.. _ 114 

Persuade believers 115 

Sacred and secular 305 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 



15 



Preaching 56.64,130 

Preaching, Pugilistic 433 

Preacher and pastor 36 J 

Preacher's victories 362 

Preacher an example _56 

Peace 385 

Place of the Spirit 376 

Prayer 145,453 

Prayer In the home 296 

Pure religion 303 

Practical Christianity 321 

Practical Christian 328 

Providence 311 

Patriotism 153 

Prisoner 100 

Physical man 97 

Pastoral work 59 

Question, The Name 265 

Resisting the Holy Spirit 230 

Regeneration ._201 

Redeemed 37 

Reconciliation 133 

Restoration 134 

Religion, Pure 303 

Rationalist 349 

Seaton, J, A 53 

Small, James 461 

Saloon and Church 168 

Saloon a robber 1 69 

Saloon, High Licensed 156 

Saloon petition 329 

Sunday School a factor 447 

Sunday School vital 449 

Sunday School and Missions 454 

SundaySchool a spiritual mother4 5 7 

Satan, Power of ,....1 58 

Soul, Possibilities of 108 

Sermons —..57 

Suffering 39 

Supper, The Lord's 31,3b7 

Sacrifice 30,7>,56 

Savior, Personal 466 

Spirit, Place and Fruit 376 

Spirit, Resisting the 230 

Spirit in creation 376 

Spirit, Born of the 205 



Sunday religion 303 

Spirit, Three Offices of 209 

Spirit bearing witness 222 

Sabbath 391 

Sunday 408 

The True Dignity of Man 97 

The Battle of Life 153 

The Church and Saloon 168 

The Growth of the Divine Life ..246 

The Name Question 265 

The Word of Faith 339 

The Church of the New Testament 

181 

The Unreasonableness of Infidelity 

- 462 

The Place and Fruit of the Spirit 

376 

The Minister and Pugilistic Preach- 
ing 433 

The Sunday School as a Religious 

Factor 447 

The Tenth Legion 70 

Unmistakable Proofs 1 42 

Union 270 

Vandewalker, J. W 115 

Visiting the sick 60 

Voting 172 

Victory Through Conflict 154 

Wickizer, D. A, 319 

Walters, J. Will 263 

Wilson, M. C 123 

Wright, Lawrence 197 

What is Expected of a Preacher.. 5 5 

Worship 105.189,3 58 

Worship before work 359 

Worship, Ritual 360 

Worship, Lord'sday 367 

Worship in spirit 368 

Women at home 290 

Works 43 

Work for members 13 1 

Word of God 219 

Word of Faith 239 

Wealth 323 

Wives 291 




H. \V. Everest. 



R W, EVEREST, A. M., LL D. 

Harvey W. Everest was boru at North Hudson, Es- 
sex county, New York, May 10, 1831. Beginning his 
education in the public schools of his native State, he 
afterwards attended, in succession, Geauga Seminary, 
Ohio; the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, Hiram, 
Ohio; Bethany College, W. Va., and Oberlin College, 
Oberlin, Ohio. 

He is truly a "teacher born." At sixteen he 
taught a common school near North Hudson, and, since 
reaching manhood, has spent the larger part of his life 
in the school-room. While a student at Hiram he serv- 
ed as teacher in the Eclectic Institute, and immediately 
after his graduation from Oberlin, became principal of 
the Institute, retaining the position until 1864, when he 
resigned to accept the presidency of Eureka College, at 
Eureka, 111. 

Leaving Eureka in 1872, he became pastor of the 
Christian Church at Springfield, 111. In 1874 he ac- 
cepted a professorship in Kentucky University at Lex- 
ington, remaining there two years. Then, after serv- 
ing as pastor of the church at Normal, 111., for one year, 
he became, in 1877, a second time, president of Eureka 
College, In the spring of 1881 he accepted the presi- 
dency of Butler University at Indianapolis, Ind., and 
served there till 1886, when he went to Wichita, Kans., 
to undertake as Chancellor, the responsible and labori- 
ous work of organizing Garfield University. June, 
1890, at which time the University, after a three years' 
career of unprecedented success, was forced to sus- 




20 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

pend in consequence of a failure in the financial man- 
agement, he became pastor of the church at Hutchin- 
son, Kans. 

He was then called to the presidency of the South- 
ern Illinois State Normal University, But Drake 
University needed his help. We tried once to get him 
but failed; we tried again and succeeded. His reasons 
for coming at our call we give in his own words: "I 
am thankful every day for my change from the Carbon- 
dale (Illinois) State Normal University to Drake Uni- 
versity. I am expecting much from the change of cli- 
mate, but more from the change of work. There I 
taught one or two classes each day, but was mainly oc- 
cupied, as president, in adjusting and oiling the machin- 
ery. Here I am occupied with classes and have to do 
with science and practical life, There I was helping to 
train teachers for public schools, but here I am assist- 
ing those who would prepare to preach the gospel of 
Christ. In a state school one's religious views must 
be held in abeyance; in this school Christianity is up- 
permost and all else is subordinate. I rejoice in my 
freedom, and in my higher work. ' ' His great love for 
and unswerving loyalty to the Church of Christ led him 
to accept this call. Drake University stands for the 
cause for which he has given the best product of his 
lifes' thought and action. He is here to help educate 
preachers — soul-wianers. This he believes in and 
works for, and our hope is that he may be long spared 
to do this work. 

It is but half praise to say that Dean Everest has 
filled these posts of honor and responsibility, one and 
all, with distinguished fidelity and success, winning a 
reputation second to none, for the accuracy, breadth 
and solidity of his scholarship; for his polish, skill, and 
power as a teacher, lecturer and preacher; for the abil- 
ity and wisdom with which he has administered the 
complex and perplexing affairs of the various executive 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 21 

offices which hehas filled; and crowning all, everywhere 
and always, for his noble, manly bearing, and his unsel- 
fish, consecrated Christian character. 

Dean Everest stands in the front rank among us, 
not only as scholar and teacher, but as preacher, lect- 
urer and writer. As a writer, especially in late j'ears, 
he has been a frequent contributor to our various mag- 
azines and papers, his articles everywhere and always 
commanding the deepest interest for the ease, simpic- 
ity, and elegance of their literary style, and the fresh- 
ness, wealth and practical value of their thought. We 
may justly characterize him as a writer by saying that 
he writes always so that the "common people" may un- 
derstand him, and never writes without the distinct 
purpose before him of saying something that will be of 
practical benefit to his readers. He has published but 
one book ^ "The Divine Demonstration — A Text-Book 
of Christian Evidence" — which was issued from the 
press of the Christian Publishing Company in 1884, 
while he was president of Butler University. This 
book was at once adopted and remains as a text- book in 
most, if not in all, of oar own Bible Schools, and it has 
been adopted in several denominational colleges. 

We let his words which follow this sketch speak ol 
the ease, simplicity and elegance of his literary style,, 
and wea4th and power of his words of truth. 



THE DEATH OF CHRIST, 



H. W. EVEREST.^ 



Many things combined to make the Trans- 
figuration a scene of surpassing grandeur; 
Mount Hermon, rugged and 'loft}^ attesting, 
as all mountains do, the power of God; Jesus, 
himself, in the focus of a light which trans- 
cended the brightness of the sun; and the 
"cloud of excellent glory'* which hung over 
all. The personages who appeared in this 
scene were representatives of three worlds; 
Christ from heaven itself, Moses and Elijah 
from the world unseen, and Peter, James and 
John of this mundane sphere. Most sublime 
was the voice which came from the cloud, 
"This is my beloved Son, hear ye him." 
Equally sublime and of more interest to hu- 
man hearts was the subject of conversation. 
Standing under the canop}" of glory, in the 
presence of God himself, and speaking in the 
hearing of men, what were Christ and Moses 
talking about? Was it the consumation of 
creative work when all the sons of God shouted 
for joy? Was it the final day when God's 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 23 

righteous judgments shall be made manifest? 
Was it the coronation of Christ when he had 
conquered death and the grave? They were 
talking about his decease, about his death, 
which would soon be accomplished at Jerusa- 
lem. This was what the prophets did not un- 
derstand when they spoke of the suffering of 
the Messiah and the glory that should follow; 
this is the great fact most vitally connected 
with the salvation of man. May it not be 
well for us to kneel at the cross where fell the 
blood of Jesus and ask what was the purpose 
of that death and what its deep meaning for 
us? 

The tendency to eleminate the miracu- 
lous and to explain both nature and revelation 
without the hypothesis of a God, is seen in 
modern discussions of this subject. The 
broader "broad-gague" religion gets to be the 
shallower it becomes, till it means very little. 
As a consequence, the cross is no longer what 
it was, and the gospel which was the power of 
God has become merely the heroism and sym- 
pathy of man. This paper is written to 
guard against this tendency, and to save both 
preachers and churches from the views of the 
death of Christ which render the gospel a 
limp and lifeless thing. May I not ask the 
blessing of God on this effort and on those 
who follow me in this discussion? Of erron- 
eous and inconsistent interpretations of the 
death of Jesus, I shall name but two, and 



24 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

these because they are the most prevalent. 

First, that the death of Jesus was only 
the death of a man. It was peculiar in that 
the Nazarene was so ^ood a man, so great a 
teacher, so philanthropic, and so patient; pecu- 
liar in the pathetic circumstances attending 
it, and in the sufferer's belief that he was 
bearing the world's sin; but in many other re- 
spects it was an ordinary event. Martyrs to 
truth and liberty have not been so few that 
we should marvel at the crucifixion of Jesus. 
On the other hand, so common has it been for 
the human race to murder its greatest bene- 
factors, that this event easily takes its place 
in the long and bloody catalogue. Had one 
listened to Jesus and marked the anger of 
scribes, pharisees, and other hypocrites, he 
would have thought it a miracle it Jesus had 
escaped an early and an ignominious death. On 
this view, the death of Jesus was only an ex- 
ample of imprudence and moral heroism, on 
the one side; and on the other, of blind bigotry 
and atrocious cruelty. If Jesus by such a 
death became our Saviour, then the world has 
ten thousand saviours equally meritorious, 
and all together not able to save a single soul, 
nor to secure pardon for a single sin. Then 
his death had no place -n the eternal purpose 
of God, he did not taste death for every man, 
it was not a revelation of divine love, nor an 
offer of mercy to anybody. Then Jesus had 
no divine mission, no single purpose in life, but 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 25 

made his way to the cross as the love or hate 
of men drew him on, or drove him, to his fate. 
And then^ also, there was no refusal of the 
sun to behold the scene, no darkness at mid- 
day, and no resurrection from the dead. Few, 
if any, preachers of the Christian church have 
gone, so far astray; but the rationalistic, not to 
say irrational, trend of liberalism is in this di- 
rection. We confess, and require others to 
confess, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son 
of God, and are not likely to repudiate this 
good confession unless we make shipwreck of 
our faith. 

And yet there are some who would make 
a theological swivel of the phrase "Son of 
Gcd." Is not man divine and are we not all 
sons of God? Divinity varies in quality and 
degree! All men are tinctured with it, philos- 
ophers have more, and Jesus, though a man, 
had a fulness of the godhead! But the claim 
that all men are divine is mere rhetoric, with- 
out fact or logic. It is only in a very general 
and remote sense tnat everything God has 
made is divine. If Jesus was the son of God 
only as all men are, was there any need to 
prove so obvious a fact? Was there any need 
of prophecy and miracle? Any need that 
John should write his gospel that the world 
might believe? Was there any need that God 
should announce the sonship of Jesus? When 
Jesus confessed that he was the Son of God 
and was declared by the high priest to be 



26 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

guilty of blasphemy and worthy of death, 
why did not Jesus explain that they misun- 
derstood him, and that he claimed only what 
every man might claim? That confession 
meant something, for it cost him his life. 
Let no man think he can reach Unitarianism 
by this road and still remain a Christian. 

Second, that the death of Christ was to 
reconcile man to God and for this only ; that it 
spends its whole force on man; that God was 
always ready to forgive ; that there was nothing 
in the way, but man's obdurate and impenitent 
heart; that the revelation of God's love in the 
death of Christ was intended to remove this 
obstacle and bring man to God. On this view, 
the orthodox ideas of sacrifice, and of an 
atonement are given up; Jesus did not bear 
our sins in any true sense; his blood does not 
cleanse us from sin. It was not necessary 
that he should die, since if man had returned 
to God in true penitence, which he had power 
to do, the death of Jesus would have been 
only so much more added to the sum of hu- 
man woe. 

In order to make this view more plausible 
it is common for those who advocate it to mis- 
represent the older doctrine of the atonement. 
It is said that God is represented as hard and 
unforgiving, till his nature is softened, and 
his wrath appeased by the death of Jesus; 
that God can be satisfied with nothing but 
blood, the blood of his son; that the sufferings 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 27 

of Christ make God willing to save as well as 
man willing to be saved! Now, that the 
atonement was ever presented in this absurd 
and unscriptural way, is very doubtful, unless 
as an exceptional case; for "all sorts of doc- 
trines have been preached by all sorts of 
men." This caricature of the atonement is in 
direct contravention of the holy scriptures. 
Christ was a -lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world; the offering of mercy was in 
God's plan all along. "He so loved the world 
that He gave his only begotten son." It is 
heaven that takes the initiative, that beseeches, 
that pleads with the sinner. God is love and 
his mercy endures forever. It is not denied 
that one great purpose of the death of Christ 
was to reconcile man to God, but this is not 
the whole of it; it looks to the government of 
God as well as to the conversion of man, to 
justice as well as to mercy. He who looks at 
the man ward side only will never exclaim with 
the Apostle, "O the depth of the riches both 
of the wisdom and knowledge of Godl how un- 
searchable are his judgments and his ways 
past finding out." 

What was the other and greater object se- 
cured by the death of Christ will be consid- 
ered farther on, but a single objection is fatal 
to the above one-sided view. The manifesta- 
tion of divine love by which men are to be re- 
conciled to God depends on the death of Christ 
for us. If man was guilty and condemned to 



28 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

eternal death; if Christ came, and, in some 
way and in some sense, paid .the penalty; or 
rendered it just and therefore possible, for 
God to pardon man, this would have been a 
woaderful exhibition of love; the highest suf- 
fering for the lowest, the most innocent for 
the most guilty. Then Paul's reasoning 
would apply: "For scarcely for a righteous 
man will one die; yet perad venture for a good 
man some would even dare to die. But God ' 
commendeth his love toward us in that while 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
Much more then, being now justified by his 
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through 
him." The death of Christ that we may live, 
was a manifestation of his love and the cause 
of our love for him and of our reconciliation 
to him. Take away the cause and you take 
away the effect; take away the sacrifice by 
which God can be just and the justifier of the 
one who believes in Jesus, and the power of 
the gospel to move man and to reconcile him 
to God is gone also. The two great purposes 
of the death of Christ are indissolubly united; 
if Christ gave his life for man, the reconcil- 
iation must follow; and if man is reconciled to 
God, a manifestation of divine love and mercy 
must have preceded, Christ must have laid 
down his life for us. 

It has been said that the death of Christ 
had no atoning power, no reference to the 
demands of justice, but that it was an effort 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 29 

to disclose the depth of divine love; an effort of 
love to |so embody itself in the facts of the 
cross that we could realize how real and how 
great it is. It may be answered that, if you 
take away man's guilt and the fact that Jesus 
died in his stead, tasting death for every man, 
to say the least, you take away the most effec- 
tive part of this manifestation of love. Again, 
it may be questioned, whether the sufferings 
of Christ, if there was no necessity for them, 
would be an indication of love. If a friend 
should peril his life to save mine, when he 
knew I was not in danger, or when there was 
no necessity, I should think him insane. If a 
father should put himself where his wicked 
children would put him to death, and so per- 
mit the crime which he might have prevented 
however patiently and divinely the father may 
have died, it would manifest, not the love, 
but the unwisdom of the father ; it would have 
little power over the children to make them 
better. 

Leaving the negative side of this discus- 
sion, let us inquire, what was the one, great 
reason why Jesus died; in what isense is he 
our Saviour? Firsts let us verify the proposition 
that the death of Christ luas a most wonderful 
and sublime event. It was no ordinary death; 
he was no ordinary sufferer; the exigency was 
no ordmary one; the steps which preceded 
and the effects which followed were not ordi- 
nary.' The death of Christ is the tragedy of 



30 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the ages. So far as we know, it stands alone 
in the history of all time and eternity. 

1. The death of Christ goes back into 
the counsels of eternity. Christ was a lamb 
slain from the foundation of the world: slain 
according to God's eternal purpose which he 
purposed in Christ Jesus. And this fact is 
not recorded of any other death. 

2. His death was foretold by the proph- 
ets. The Messiah was to die a violent death 
as described in the fifty-third chapter of Isa- 
iah. Daniel tells when he should be cut off. 
They give his death a wonderful prominence 
and a more wonderful meaning, since he was 
slain for the transgressions of God's people 
and was bruised for our iniquities. This 
could not be said of any other man. 

3. All through the patriarchal and Jew- 
ish dispensations the dying Christ was kept 
before the world in the offering of sacrifices. 
The slain lamb was a type of the slain Mes- 
siah. There must have been a great reason 
why this death had so large a place in the de- 
velopment of the divine purpose. 

4. How the death of Christ was signalized 
by miraculous phenomenal The rocks were 
rent, the graves opened, and darkness over- 
spread the land for three hours: silence and 
gloom that earth and heaven might under- 
stand its pathos and its deep meaning. 

5. The death of Christ was to be preached 
unto all nations, ''for thus it is written and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 31 

thus it behooved the Christ to suffer and to 
rise from the dead that repentance and remis- 
sion of sins should be preached in his name 
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." 
No other death could have such a relation 
to the salvation of the world. 

6. Jesus ordained an institution for the 
perpetual remembrance of his death — the 
Lord's Supper. "This is my body broken for 
you." "This is my blood of the New Testa- 
ment shed for many for the remission of 
sins." "This do in remembrance of me." 
"For as often as ye eat this bread and drink 
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he 
come." 

7. Paul determined to know nothing 
among men but Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
He was deaf to the calls of ambition, he was 
blind to the glories of the Roman empire. 
The crucifixion of Jesus was for the salvation 
of lost men. And this was all he wanted to 
know as he passed among them for whom Je- 
sus died. 

8. There is abundant evidence that Je- 
sus is not be classed with man. Every 
prophecy fulfilled in him, every miracle which 
he performed, his wonderful claims, his pro- 
found wisdom, and his sinless life, al] draw 
attention to his .death as exceedingly cruel, 
and yet voluntary ; he had power to lay down 
his life and take it again. 



32 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

9. The theme of saintly worship is the 
*'Lamb that was slain." In the heavenly 
world, Jesus will bear the marks of the cruci- 
fixion, and will be the conspicuous object of 
the adoration of those "who have washed 
their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb." 

10. Whatever is the meaning of the fol- 
lowing scriptures, they certainly exalt the 
death of Christ as most wonderful and most 
sublime: ''But we see Jesus, who was made 
a little lower than the angels for the suffering 
of death, crowned with glory and honor; that 
he by the grace of God should taste death for 
every man." "Therefore doth my Father 
love me, because I lay down my life that I 
might take it again. No man taketh it from 
me, but I lay it down of myself." "And be- 
ing found in fashion as a man, he humbled 
himself, and became obedient unto death, even 
the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name 
which is above every name." "And having 
made peace through the blood of his cross, by 
him to reooncile all things unto himself; by 
him, I say, whether they be things in earth, 
or things in heaven." "For tne preaching of 
the cross is, to them that perish, foolishness, 
but unto us, who are saved, it is the power of 
God." "Forasmuch as the children are par- 
takers of flesh and blood, he also himself like- 
wise took part of the same, that through 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 33 

death he might destroy him that had the 
power of deatn, that is, the devil; and deliver 
them who through fear of death were all their 
lifetime subject to bondage." ' 'Know ye not 
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus 
Christ, were baptized unto his death." These 
passages, and many others, that might be 
given, show that the death of Christ was no 
ordinary one, was much more than that of a 
martyr; 'and that, in some way, it is vitally 
connected with the salvation of man. It is 
therefore no strained interpretation which ex- 
alts the death of Christ; seeing in it a sacrifice 
for sin, the assurance of pardon, and the con- 
quest of the grava 

Second, we are now ready to answer the 
question, Why did Jesus die? In what sense 
is he our Savior? We have an inspired solu- 
tion of this problem in the Roman letter, 3:24- 
26. ''''Being justified freely by his grace, through 
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom 
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through 
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness 
for the remisson of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God', to declare, I say, at this 
time, his righteousness: that he might be just, 
and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.''"' 

We need to approach this subject as the 
writer of the Roman letter does, and hence 
we must consider the following Pauline pro- 
positions in order: 



34 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

1. ^^Tlie tvrath of God is revealed from 
heaven against all ungodliness and unriyhteous- 
ness of men ivho hold the truth in unrighteous- 
ness.'''' He does not argue this proposition, 
for it is self-evident. Of course, the "wrath 
ot God" must be understood in a Bible sense; 
it is but a revelation of His righteous 
judgments. God is infinitely just and holy 
and he must he opposed to all sin. The uni- 
verse can not afford that it should be other- 
wise. Sin is the only thing that God hates. 
The unforgiven sinner must "perish from the 
way when his wrath is kindled but a little.*' 

2. '''All have sinned and come short of the 
glory of God.'''' The "all'' who have sinned 
does not include those who are not moral 
agents and who are incapable of sin — infants 
not yet knowing right and wrong, imba ciles, 
degenerates, and insane people. That all who 
have become moral agents have sinned he 
proves in three installments: (1) All the 
Gentiles have sinned. God was revealed to 
thetn even his eternal power and godhead; 
they with all men had the intuitions that 
they ought to do right ; they had a law, their 
own standard of right, and they were held 
amenable to that law; but this law they all 
violated. This he illustrates by that awful 
degradation of the heathen world. (2) He who 
condemned the gentiles as thus guilty before 
God, condemned himself, for he also did the 
same things. (3) The Jews were also under 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 35 

his condemnation ; for God's judgments are 
righteous; ''there is no respect of person 
with God," who will render to every man ac- 
cording to his deeds. The advantages of the 
Jew, the possession of the written law, and 
the many mercies of God, only served to in- 
crease their guilt, since the law they had not 
kept, and through them the name of God was 
blsphemed among the gentiles. He aJBfirms 
there is no difference, for all have sinned. 

3. Therefore by the deeds of law shall no 
flesh he justify ed in his sight. By "deeds of 
law" is meant perfect obedience^ which none 
have rendered. There are four conceivable 
ways in whicli the conflict between God and 
man may be settled; first, that man may be 
able to withstand the Almighty, to reverse 
God's laws and live on in his sins; able to ab- 
rogate the law of cause and effect, and, 
though guilty, still be at peace. This is im- 
possible, and Paul does not mention it. 
Second, that God may become indifferent to 
human conduct and not care that men disobey 
him. For this there is no warrant in nature 
since in nature every transgression and dis- 
obedience receives a just recompense of re- 
ward. This also is impossible, since God is 
just and holy. Third, man may keep the 
whole law and be able truthfully to say ''I 
have never sinned; I ask a place in Heaven, 
not as a matter of mercy, but as my unques- 
tionable right." But it is proved that this 



36 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

way is not open to man, for all have sinned. 
No soul morally accountable will dare to put 
in such a plea in the day of judgement. 
Fourth^ only one way of justification remains, 
that of pardon. Mercy is our only pl€a\ With 
the Publician, no man must dare to lift 
his eyes toward heaven, but smite upon 
his breast saying, "God be merciful to me a 
sinner!" 

4. We are justiHed^ or pa^rdoned^ freely hy 
his grace through the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus, Christ is our propitiation through 
faith in his Mood, God can he just and thejus- 
tifier of him ivho believes in Jesus, It is plain- 
ly taught in this remarkable passage that, be- 
cause Jesus died, God caa pardon the one who 
believes in Him. We may not be able to fully 
understand how this is; we may not compre- 
hend all the divine principles which underlie 
God's plan of making men righteous, nor is it 
necessary that we should. God has said it 
and his word cannot be broken. As we look 
up to the cross and see the suffering Savior, 
we may say on the testimony of the Holy 
Spirit, "Jesus dies for me and I may live." 

That the death of Christ has this deeper 
meaning, and that it is not merely the source 
of that moral power which is to move man and 
reconcile him to God, is evident. When a 
man's theory runs squarely against the state- 
ments of the Holy Scriptures, he should pause 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 37 

and re-examine the whole subject; especially 
should this be the case with the preacher. 
What then mean the following passages, if not 
that the death of Christ was more than that of 
a martyr? 

"Behold the Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sin of the world?" The figure is 
that of sacrifice. It is not that Jesus stood be- 
fore his acusers as an innocent and harmless 
lamb that opened not its mouth, but that he 
was the great sacrifice that God provided. It 
was sacrificial, propitia.tory blood that flowed 
from his many wounds. 

"Even as th^ Son of man came not to be 
ministered unto, but to minister and to gbm 
his life a ransom for man." "The man Christ 
Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all, to 
be testified in due time." One giving himself 
to ransom for another is doing something more 
and diviner than dying as a martyr. 

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse 
of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is 
written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on. 
a tree." "Forasmuch as ye know that ye 
were not redeemed with corruptible things, 
as silver and gold, * * -^^ b^t with the 
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without 
blemish and without spot." "Neither by the 
blood of goats and calves, but by his own 
blood he entered once into the holy place, hav- 
ing obtained eternal redemption for us." Re- 



Jo DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

deeming a condemned soul by giving life for 
it, is more than martj-rdom. 

''For God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten son that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish but have everlasting 
life." This giving was not as all men are 
given to a life of suffering and thousands to an 
ignominious death, but it was that the believ- 
er might have everlasting life. 

"And as it is appointed unto men once to 
die, but after this the judgment, so Christ 
was once offered to bear the sins of many." 
In some deep and solemn sense Christ was 
offered and bore our sins. 

"He that spared not his own son but 
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
with him also freely give us all things." 
Eternal love for man had delivered up Jesus 
to death, long before the high-priest said he 
was worthy of death, or Pilate had condemned 
him to be scourged and crucified. 

"Who his own self hore our sinsm his own 
body on the tree, that we being dead to sin 
should live unto righteousness by whose 
stripes we are healed. " Christ was sinless 
and did not bear our sins in becoming man, 
but in dying on the cross. 

These and other scriptures are wholly 
inconsistent with the shallow theory of the 
death of Christ which makes it only a 
martyr's death and an example of moral hero- 
ism. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 3^ 

Now can we verify this interpretatior 
Can we see, in some measure, that God can l* 
just ana pardon the one who believes in JesusV 

1. There is no injustice to Christ. It 
seems to be a law in the moral government of 
the world that blessings shall come to the 
undeserving and the guilty through the suf- 
ferings of the innocent. The mother suffers 
for the child, the patriot for his country, and 
the martyr in the cause of truth for those who 
put him to death. Again there was no injust- 
ice to Christ, because he was divine, he was a 
manifestation of God ; he was himself a 
source of moral law, and there was no wrong 
if he chose to suffer for man. Still further-, 
Christ was a willing sacrifice; he laid down 
his life; no one took it from him; He thanked 
God for the bread and wioe which were the 
the symbols of his death. For the joy that 
was set before him to endure the cross, des- 
pising the shame and is set down at the right 
hand of the throne of God. That the Messiah 
should be innocent and divine was an essen- 
tial part of the plan; innocent, a lamb without 
blemish; and divine, that he might save to the 
uttermost all who come to him. 

2. There is no injustice to the svhjects o' 
the divine government. There would be no in^^ 
justice if all sinners suffered the wrath of 
God for their sins; and such punishment 
would be to conserve the peace, safety, and 



40 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

progress of the world. Whatever would ae- 
■complish for the world what the punishment 
of sin would accomplish, and this without 
wronging any one, would certainly be just and 
rig ht. The death of Christ as a propitiation 
for sin would accomplish all this and more, 
since it makes way for the mercy of God. Is 
the world of mankind wronged when God par- 
dons a believer in Christ? Are they not re- 
strained from the commission of sin by the 
death of Christ and the revelation of divine 
mercy, more than they would by the punish- 
ment of the man who believes and is par- 
doned? But without something that would 
do for the world what punishment of sin 
would do, mercy would be an injustice. When 
a governor pardons criminals without any 
compensation to the state, he is an enemy to 
the people, unjust, and himself a criminal. 
Indiscriminate mercy without an adequate 
sacrifice would seem to be unjust even in God. 
3. There is no injustice to the pardoned 
sinner. Forgiving the sinner would be an in- 
justice to him as well as to the world unless, 
at least, two things were done for him ; unless 
the law of God were sustained in his estima- 
tion as authoritive and sacred; and unless 
he became a reformed man, dead to sin and 
alive to righteousness. These two things are 
done for him; the first, by the death of Christ 
for him; and the second, by his resfeneration, 
or great moral change. God did not pass by 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 41 

his sins without the great sacrifice of the Son 
of God, nor has he the promise of pardon un- 
less he is made a new man in Christ Jesus. 
To have forgiven the sinner without a sacri- 
fice would have been a great wrong to the par- 
doned man; it would be as much as to say to 
him "Go on in your sins; God does not care; 
God is not displeased with your crimes." 

For these and other reasons which we do 
not comprehend, PauJ asserts that God's plan 
of making man righteous through pardon, 
enables God to be just and the justifier of him 
who believes in Christ; and this is true beyond 
all question. 

The verification of this view of the death 
of Christ is still more complete when we find 
in it the solution of certain cognate prob- 
lems: 

1. Why is the divinity of Christ so es- 
sential to Christianity? Why is so much ef- 
fortmade in the scriptures to prove it; promise, 
type and antitype, prophecies, and the four 
gospels in their narration of miraculous deeds, 
miraculous teaching, and miraculous love? 
This doctrine is vital to the system. We need 
a divine Savior. Authority to pardon, power 
to save, the manifestation of God's love, and 
a sacrifice so great and so divine that it may 
apply to the whole world and to the darkest 
sins — all depend on Jesus' being the Son of 
God. 

2. We can see why this justification, or 



42 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

pardon, can come only to the believer. Tne 
declaration, "He that believeth not shall be 
condemned," is not arbitrary; it is so in the 
very nature of the case. If a man does not 
see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; 
if he does not believe this with all his heart; if 
he does not realize that the agonies of the 
cross were to save his soul from eternal 
death, he will remain unaffected by the gos- 
pel ; he will neither repent nor obey. Such a 
man cannot be pardoned, and if he were, it 
would be an injury to him instead of a blessing. 
Peace with God, the hope that is like an an- 
chor to the soul, and joy in God, are impossi- 
ble to the unbeliever. 

3. We can see in what sense salvation by 
faith is "a wholesome doctrine and full of 
comfort." The word faith is used in the 
scriptures in at least four senses: (1) Belief, 
trust — the usual meaning; (2) Fidelity; the 
disobedience of the Jews would not make the 
faith^ or fidelity of God of none effect. (3) The 
doctrine of the gospel; "Contend earnestly 
for Vae faith once delivered unto the saints;" 
(4) And as a system of salvation; ^'^eiove faith 
came we were kept under the law." Faith 
was in the world before, but not as a system 
of salvation. "Therefore being justified by 
faith we have peace with God." This faith is 
not mere belief, but God's method of saving 
man, called grace, faith or mercy. Now in 
this last sense, we are saved by faith. Paul 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 43 

discusses two methods of salvatioD; the one is 
that of perfect obedience or never having^ 
sinned, which he shows is impossible tosmful 
men; the other that of mercy or grace, in 
which man is saved by pardon through the sac- 
rifice of Christ, He declares that these meth- 
ods are opposed and wholly different. If sal- 
vation is of perfect works, or "works" as he 
designates it, then it is not of grace, or mer- 
cy, or faith. We are saved by "faith alone," 
the "faith alone" meaning faith without per- 
fect works as a ground of salvation, and not 
faith in the sense of belief and without the ac- 
companying repentence and obedience. In 
this sense, the doctrine is "wholesome and 
full of comfort," since none of us have kept 
the whole law of God. It is somewhat to the 
discredit of theology, if not humorous, when 
two preachers fall to discussing "salvation by 
faith alone," when neither knows the sense in 
which Paul taught this doctrine. 

4. We have here also the solution of the 
proolem of contradiction between Paul and 
James. "Therefore we conclude that a man 
is justified by faith without the deeds of the 
law," "Knowing that a man is not justified 
by the works of the law, but by the faith of 
Jesus Christ." But James says "Ye see then 
how that by works a man is justified and not 
by faith only." The supposed contradiction 
disappear when we see that the "works" of 
Paul and James are not the same: (1) The 



44 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

works of Paul are considered as a meritorious 
ground of salvation; those of James are those 
required in order to accept pardon and exhib- 
it works meet for repentance. (2) The works 
of Paul are those of perfect obedience; those 
of James are not so considered. (3) Paul's 
works make faith, or salvation by mercy void^ 
since there would be no sin in the case; by the 
works of James is faith make perfect, since by 
the works of acceptance, faith is fully mani- 
fested, and its object, the pardon of the sin- 
ner, is accomplished. Hence there is no con- 
tradiction, but perfect harmony. He who 
says that Paul and James are unreconcilable 
gives evidence that he does not understand 
them nor God's method of salvation. 

It is confirmatory of this interpretation 
of the death of Christ to mark the results of 
the Savior's death in the heart and life of the 
believer. He who has accepted the shallower 
doctrine and who does not see m the dying 
Christ a sacrifice for sin, is ignorant of the 
great, central, life-giving truth of the gospel. 
He does not feel the beating of God's heart of 
infinite love, and has not experienced the up- 
lifting power of the new life. 

1. He finds in the gospel a sublimity and 
harmony which confirms his faith. The death 
of Christ takes it place among the sublimities 
of our God. It is not a despised Jewish, Naz- 
arene peasant who suffers on the gallows, but 
the divine man, the Son of God. He dies not 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 45 

as a mere victim of human hate, but as a man- 
ifestation of divine love. He suffers, not to 
satiate the malice of his implacable enemies, 
but that mercy may be offered to millions of 
our sinful race. It falls into harmony with 
all related truth and all attending phenomena; 
the holiness of God, the awf u] nature of sin, 
eternal death, and the mercy of God which en- 
dures forever. Well misfht it be the theme of 
conversation at the Transfiguration; well 
might the angels announce the advent of 
Christ, strengthen him. in the Garden, roll 
away the stone from the selpulcher, and at- 
tend him to glory; well might the sun be dark- 
ened, the Holy Spirit announce his enthrone- 
ment, and the Apostles be commanded to 
preach the gospel to every creature. 

2, The obedient believer has an assur- 
ance of pardon and peace with God through 
the Lord Jesus. If God could pardon the sin- 
ner for any other reason, much more would he 
do so because Jesus offered himself a ransom 
for us. If sin can be forgiven on the ground 
of repentance and a new life, the added sacri- 
fice of Christ will cause the streams of mercy 
to flow in greater abundance. What a revela- 
tion was it to Luther when he saw that "the 
just are to live by faith;" that not by works of 
rghteousness or penance, as, on his knees, he 
toiled up the sacred stairway, but by mercy 
that we are saved. No wonder that he was so 
enraptured with the Pauline doctrine of grace! 



46 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

No matter ho v many millions shall call on 
the name of our Lord, the fountain of mercy 
can not be exhausted; no matter how un- 
worthy and guilty the sinner, the blood of 
Christ cleanses him from all sin. The dying 
mother's first concern was for her young 
children who were to be left in this wicked 
world without the guidance and shield of par- 
ental love, and then she thought of herself. 
Though an earnest Christian, she saw how im- 
perfect her life had been, nor did the light of 
hope gleam in her closing eyes till she looked 
to the cross and was reminded that it is not 
by works of righteousness that we are saved, 
but by the mercy of God. It was a thought 
full of comfort to her. Dying man, however 
many thy sins, and however dark; sins against 
thyself, against those that thou lovest the 
most, and against the Father in Heaven, who 
loves thee most of all; and though the crimson 
stains be deep and damnable as were those ot 
Saul of Tarsus, the chief of sinners, still all, 
all are washed away by the blood of Jesus, if 
thou hast obeyed his gospel and been faithful 
until death! Go not over thy sinful way, re- 
calling thy sins one by one, but look to Jesua, 
and see that he tastes death for every man, 
and for thee; so will Christ take away the 
sting of death, and give thee victory over the 
grave! 

If the death of Christ for us gives assur- 
ance of pardon, much more does it assure us 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 47 

that *'all things work together for good to 
those who love God and who are the called ac- 
cording to his purpose." "He who spared not 
his own son but gave him up for us all, how 
shall he not with him also freely give up all 
things." 

3. It produces in the believer an intense 
love for God and man. The power, wisdom, 
and goodness of God are seen in nature, but 
his love, his compassion and mercy are seen 
in the gospel. Hence it is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one who believes. The 
heart that is not touched and changed by the 
sufferings of Jesus, as a divine sacrifice to 
save him, is beyond the reaqh of moral, sav- 
ing power. The answering love and conse- 
cration throughout the world and during all 
the Christian ages; the benevolence manifes- 
ted toward the evil and the unfortunate — all 
have their source in "the fountain filled with 
blood which flowed from Immanuel's veins. 

It is also the great fact which enables us 
to see that men are equal before God and that 
we are all brethren. The doctrine of human 
equality and brotherhood is the doctrine of 
the cross. We are equal as being all sinners, 
all guilty, all in prison, all redeemed by the 
blood of Christ. Where is boasting? We are 
all of one blood; we were all convicts, and all 
live because of the mercy shown us. We feel 
that if God so loved us, we ought to love one 
another. 



48 DOCTRINE Al^D LIFE 

4. It is the source of Christian zeal for 
the conversion of the world Christ is 
not only the Great Teacher, a beautiful 
character, a perfect example, a divine 
man; but he is our Saviour; he redeemed us 
with his own precious blood. His death was 
necessary that we may be pardoned. "Those 
who have sinned even without a written law 
shsill pe7'ish without law — not saved without 
law. "There is no other name under heaven 
given among men whereby we must be 
saved." And it is equally necessary that 
men should believe on the Son of God in or- 
der to Salvation. He who seeks to climb up 
some other way is a thief and a robber. 
Hence our zeal for the Es^angelizatioa of all 
men, whether in Christian or heathen lands. 
It is said that "the question is not whether 
the heathen can be saved without the gospel 
but whether we can be saved if we do not 
send it to them." But this is quite illogical, 
for if they can be saved without the gospel, 
there may not be guilt if we shall withhold 
the gospel from them. The idea that 
"somehow" the heathen can be saved, either 
here or hereafter, without the gospel, certain- 
ly has no warrant in the Scriptures. It 
certainly has not in the heroism of Jesus, 
dying for a Ijst world; nor in the great com- 
mission to go into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature; nor yet in the 
example of the early church and the holy 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 49 

Apostles in their zeal to bring all to Christ. 
If heaven has a method by which any sinners 
of the world can be saved without accepting 
the gospel terms, it has not been made known 
to us. Just as the doctrine of election and 
reprobation was antagonistic to all evangeli- 
cal effort, so the teaching that the heathen 
may be saved without the gospel, is destruct- 
ive of all missionary zeal. 

As Christians we need adequate views of 
the death of Christ . We need to live near 
the cross where we see the deadly nature of 
sin, the justice of God, the love of God, and 
the compassion of Jesus; near the cross 
where all men are equal and where the words 
of pardon and life eternal can be heard. As 
preacners we need to look well that we preach 
no other gospel, lest the Pauline anathema 
fall upon us. We should not undertake to 
declare the terms of pardon before we under- 
stand them. We need to study as we do no 
other part of the Bible, the first eleven 
chapters of the Roman letter. We need to be 
baptized into the death of Christ, not only in 
the ordaniary sense, but also into a fuller 
realization of the deep meaning and necessity 
of this great sacrifice for man's sin. We 
need to study this subject till with Paul we 
are determined "to know nothing among men 
but Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 

Toward the death of Christ all the cen- 
turies of preparation were moving; the 



50 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

journeyings of Jesus brought him constantly 
nearer the cross ; and when, at last, as the 
supernatural darkness began to lift, he cried, 
"It is finished," his great work was complet- 
ed, man was redeemed, and new glory flooded 
th e earth and sky. 

We may not understand all the reasons 
for this sublime event, this divine tragedy, 
but God grant that we may be of those who 
com e out of great tribulation, if need be, but 
who have washed their robes and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. 




J A. Shaton, 



J. A. SEATON. 

He was born in Jefferson county, Ky., Feb. 28, 
1840. His father's family removed to Adams county, 
111. in 1844 where the subject of this sketch grew to 
manhood on a farm fourteen miles east of Quincy. 

He attended public school and then a Presbyterian 
Academy at Clayton from 1859 to '61. His time was 
divided between work on a farm, school teaching, and 
the academy until Feb. '62, when he was married to 
Mary E Bradley, of Columbus, 111. He entered the 
union army, Aug. 7, '62, was wounded in '63, and mus- 
tered out of service as second lieutenant, Sept. 27, '64. 
He became a minister of the Gospel ia '71 and has been 
faithful in this calling ever since. He served as pastor 
at St. Augustine, Cambridge, Atlanta and La Harpe, 
111 , Watertown, Dak., Corvallis and Bozeman, Mon- 
tana. He has been at Marion, Iowa for nearly five 
years. The Marion Sentinel says, "During his stay 
with us he has made a host of friends ainong our citi- 
zens who join in congratulating him on his success and 
wishing him many years of happiness and prosperity." 

He has held many excellent meetings and is in 
hearty sympathy with our evangelists who work after 
the New Testament model. He has held several public 
debates; two with Adventists, one each with a Baptist 
and a Universalist, a United Brethren^ an M. E., aod a 
Mormon. The writer heard him in two public discus- 
sions and knows that it is his love for the truth that in- 
spires him to defend it with clearness, zeal and power; 
he contends earnestly for the faith which was once fa 
all delivered unto the saints. 



54 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

In a busy life he has had his trials and triumphs 
shared by his happy Christian family — his wife, one 
son and four daughters. His children have all been 
added to the church between the ages of eight and four- 
teen. Listening to sermons by John Lindsey of Eure- 
ka, 111., Bro. SeatOQ was convinced and baptized by P. 
B. Garret (Sister J. H. Garrison's lather). He is filled 
with gratitude for mercies past, performs faithfully and 
lovingly the duties of the present, and looks forward 
with glorious hope into the future that grows brighter 
and brighter unto the perfect day. 

G. L. B. 



/ 



WHAT IS EXPECTED OF A PREACHER? 

2 Tim. 5:1-4^ 

The minister of Jesus the Christ is under 
a very solemn "charge" as to how he shall 
live and walk before the world; and also what 
and how he shall preach. He should know 
the truth as the truth is to make him free 

(1) From sin, 

(2) From selfishness, and 

(3) From the doctrines of men. 

The charge to Timothy is to "preach the 
word" both in season and out of season. He 
is not to preach his opinions of the word, or 
the opinions his church may entertain of 
the word; but the word is to dwell in him rich- 
ly, that he may be abl.e to minister to all his 
hearers that they may be saved according to 
the Gospel. The apostle in this charge inti- 
mates that the time may come when men will 
tire of the true gospel and will demand a 
substitute; they will want fifteen minute "ser- 
monettes,'' and these largely in "Old women's 
fables" and "Ghost Stories;" ana thus the 
minister, in his desire to please the people 



56 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

instead of God, would be lead astray. The 
Saviour put this another way — "And if the 
blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the 
ditch."' Let every minister therefore be 
so thoroughly grounded in the truth that he 
may lead aright. 

The minister is not to think that he must 
have an easy time of it. He is to be watchful 
— "on the alert" — see that the "evil one" does 
not enter in and destroy the flock, or some 
portion thereof; to be careful that he does not 
become an instrument in the hands of the 
enemy of souls to divide, or cultivate the spir- 
it of envy and hatred, because some in the 
church do not like the preacher. He is ex- 
pected to be offered occasionally as a sacrifice 
instead of sacrificing the church. How often 
it has been my lot to find churches rent in 
twain by some minister, who, in a spirit of 
false pride (rather than be real humble as the 
Nazarene hath shown us) patterned after the 
"sons of thunder," called down fire to con- 
sume his supposed enemies. "Brethren, this 
ought not so to be. " 

It is expected of preacher that he be fault- 
less—he must never err in thought, judgment 
or action; mistakes are excusable in all but 
the preacher. Persons forget that he and his 
family are human beings; they forget that fact 
even in the amount of salary, and the prompt- 
ness in meeting their promises to their preach- 
er, A preacher, like all other Christians has 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 57 

his faults. You would not be willing for him 
to be as exactinor .of j^ou as you are of him. 
Bear with the preacher in his weakness as he 
bears with you in yours. But give no counte- 
nance to him who sins wilfully. 

It is not fair to distinguish between the 
actions of the preacher and other members. 
If it is wrong for the preacher to use ^ 'slang" 
it is wrong for others; if it is wrong for him 
to enter the saloon or gambling room, swear 
or play cards, or do any of those things that 
the people out of the church would condemn 
in him, thea no one can engage in them: for 
they are wrong, and no one, church member 
or not, can do wrong without condemnation. 
Jesus alone is the standard for us all. What 
is wrong for the preacher to do is wrong for 
all. 

It is expected of a preacher that he will 
always preach good sermons. He is like a 
cook, the best of them fail sometimes. A 
good cook fails often for various reasons, and 
so does the preacher, sometimes it is his 
fault, and sometimes is through lack of atten- 
tion from his audience — some sleep, others 
talk, laugh -and play. This would spoil the 
very best sermon. 

It is expected of the preacher that he will 
please everybody; every one to be pleased, 
not only with his sermons, but his manners, 
style, gestures, etc. This, in the very nature 
of things, could not be. John the Baptist, 



58 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the Apostles, and the Saviour of men failed to 
please everybody, in fact it seems that they 
succeeded in pleasing very few. Remember 
that oftentimes the very best meal is not rel- 
ished because of the condition of the eater; 
he thinks the food set before him is not fit to 
eat, when it is his stomache that is out of or- 
der. Many a sermon is sickening to a soul 
because that souf is out of order. 

It is expected that a preacher will induce 
every member to attend services and help to 
keep up expenses and pay the minister's sal- 
ary. This was never accomplished by any 
preacher. Some will not attend because they 
dislike some member of the church, or be- 
cause they do not like the preacher. If they 
loved the Lord they would not stay away. 
Such people have only joined the church ; they 
have never joined the Lord, else they would 
be willing to suffer "contradiction of sinners" 
against themselves. Some do not attend for 
the reason they sleep late Lord's day morn- 
ing; through the week, when they are serving 
self, or business, or pleasure, they are on 
time, but Lord's day they look upon with 
great indifference. 

The preacher has all these influences to 
contend with; and should the church fail to 
grow under his ministry he is thought not to 
be the man for the place, and the church is 
soon on the lookout for one that "will draw." 
There are many preachers to-day doing all 



BY IOWA WKITERS. 59 

the drmving while the church is doing all the 
riding^ and whipping, scolding, and complain- 
ing, because the load refuses to ascend the 
hill. Among the hard things the preacher 
in many places has to draw is his salary — after 
he has fairly earned it. 

It is expected that the preacher spend 
much of his time in pastoral work — visiting 
the members and others. No preacher can 
expect to succeed if he neglects to visit his 
people. He must visit his people in their 
homes, that he may become acquainted with 
their surroundings, so that his ministrations 
may be made helpful. The people do not need 
criticism so much for the way they live — even 
in the church— as they need the helpfulness 
of sympathy and encouragement. The church 
through her ministry, has called the erring to 
a better life, to better associations^ and these 
are found in the church — established for the 
purpose of saving the worst men and women. 
Many who lived vicious lives, have heard and 
accepted that sweet invitation. They come 
conscious of the past. The}" know that the 
church knows their former characters. They 
come for help. They become members of the 
church. Their old associates are very likely 
to show them marked attention. If the 
preacher and his people neglect these weak 
ones, because of the past, and leave them 
helpless and alone, they are very likely to be 
"taken captive by the devil at his will," and 



60 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the preacher and his people be held accounta- 
ble in the "day of judgment," for these lost 
souls. They are in earnest, but know not the 
way of life. And if the pastor shall fail to visit 
them, and show them sympath}^, and teach 
them how to live, and read "God's Word" and 
pray, and strengthen them against the "wiles 
of the devil," they may be lost. 

But the pastor must be prudent. He 
should protect himself against the evil to 
which he may be exposed by taking his wife 
with him. II he is so unfortunate as not to 
have a wife, then the elders or deacons, or 
some good brother should go with him: for the 
elders, deacons, and members should visit 
those who come into the church after they be- 
come disciples. 

The sick of our own church, thoseof other 
churches, and those of no church will feel en- 
couraged, if the pastor remembers them in 
their affliction. If the sick one is called away 
the living members of the family and friends 
will remember you as a kind-hearted servant 
of Jesus Christ. They may not alwaj's know 
what church you represent. But don't be 
uneasy, they will find 3'ou out, and find out 
what church has so good a minister. 

The pastor should not be too high-minded 
to visit in the homes of the poor and un- 
learned. A young minister once said to Bro. 
Thomas Munnell, "I don't enjoy visiting the 
poor and ignorant people; they are no company 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 61 

for me." Bro. Munnell reminded him that 
Jesus of Nazareth might have said the same 
about this world of ours, for we are infinite- 
ly farther below him than the poor, ignorant 
people are below us; it is not likely that he en- 
joyed our company much, for he was about the 
loneliest person ever on earth. Nor is it 
likely that the Holy Spirit, or even the angels, 
enjoy our society very much, and like them 
we must work for the good of others, and not 
to please ourselves. So love first, and then 
work. 

There is another class to be visited, and 
this is a very large class — I mean those of the 
world. There are many of them deprived of 
the privileges of the Lord's house. They are 
seldom ever seen in the assembly of "the 
saints." Rail-road men in their shops, 
round houses, and in their homes; no class of 
people enjoy a visit from the- minister more 
than these men and their families, who run 
our trains, or work in rail-road shops on the 
Lord's day, as on any other day in the week. 
They feel when a minister, or a church mem- 
ber comes to their home, or their shop, and 
shakes hands with them, and sits down and 
talks with them, that there is a bright spot in 
life, upon which they look with delight. And 
when they do have the time and the oppor- 
tunity of going to the "house of God" they 
will go where that minister preaches. 

The minister who can never see people 



62 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

on the street, and greet them kindly and cor- 
dially, will have very little influence in that 
community. He may be well educated, a fine 
thinker, a finished orator, a great student, 
but he had better abandon the pulpit, and 
take to the lecture platform for all the good 
he will be able to accomplish in saving men 
and women. A sermon is soon forgotten by 
the masses, an oratorical flight soon fades 
from the memory; but a pleasant greeting, a 
smile of recognition, a warm grasp of the 
hand, with a hearty, cheery, "Good morning" 
to the man "young" or "old" in over-alls^ or 
in garments soiled from contact with the pro- 
blem of how to win bread, will live in the 
hearts of the "sons of toil" long after the ora- 
tor, the student, and the thinker have dropped 
out of the ranks of men. Sympathy with men 
women and children, and the art of expres- 
ing it in a loving way to all classes, should be 
the aim of every minister of the gospel. 

Don't forget the children. The little boy 
when he returned home from the church ser- 
vices, said, "I think our minister is very nice, 
for he shook hands with me to-day." Some 
of the warmest and most faithful friendships 
of my life, are the little boys and girls of my 
acquaintance during my ministry. I count it 
a great achievement, when T can capture and 
hold the esteem of the children. They are 
genuine friends; they have not learned how to 
deceive you. Besides, Jesus loved the child 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 63 

ren. You may be able to lead many a father 
and mother into the kingdom by loving the 
children. I can not in this short essay tell 
you of the number of "new dolls" that have 
been brought to me as I pass along the street 
and visit in the homes, by devoted little 
mothers from ^ve to ten years of age. A lit- 
tle boy of five years, belonging to a Congrega- 
tional family, could not retire one night, until 
he was permitted to come over to my house 
and show me his new suit and little wagon. 
It is better to win these little ones to Jesus, 
than to wait until they have sown a crop of 
"wild oats"; for usually the sower tarries long 
enough to reap what he has sown. In one of 
Bro. Geo. F. Adams' meetings in Illinois 
some thirty or more years ago, one night when 
the invitation was given, a judge came for- 
ward to make the "good confession", and a 
ragged orphan boy— his parents were both 
dead. The people were delighted, they 
thanked God that one so influential as the 
judge would become a member of the church. 
It would give them a standing in that commun- 
ity. The little boy was overlooked. No one 
rejoiced at his coming. The next fall the 
judge was a candidate for re-election. He 
went into the campaign with his old-time ar- 
dor. He worked hard for his ticket, and was 
many times under the influence of the spirit 
which never makes just men perfect. His 
Christian career was of short duration. The 



64 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

little boy — God bless him — was faithful. He 
was in love with "the truth." He thirsted 
for righteousness; he went to school, then to 
college, graduated as a good minister of Jesus 
Christ and has turned many to the Lord. 

If he visits all the time, he will fail in the 
pulpit. It is his duty to preach the word, 
*'for it pleased God by the foolishness of 
preaching to save them that believe." Those 
who complain most about the wurk of the 
preacher, are the people who do the least work 
themselves; if they could be induced to work 
they would be happier. Kindly point out the 
preacher's failures, but do not send him into 
the wilderness as a "scape goat" bearing the 
sins of his brethren. 




A. M. Haggard. 



A, M. HAGGARD. 

Alfred Martin Haggard is a Hawkeye man. His 
birth place is Stone City, Linn county, Iowa. The 
date is April 11, 1851. His father was a devoted mem- 
ber of the Church of Christ and an acceptable Dreach- 
er. His mother is still living, is a member of the 
church at De Soto, Iowa, and all her children praise 
her for her love and faithfulness. Bro. Haggard mar- 
ried Florence Johnson, daughter of B. W. Johnson, 
who has gone to the "Home overthere, " and Sister 
Johnson who lives in Oskaloosa. Sister Haggard is 
ever ready to help her husband in his earnest and suc- 
cessful work for the Master They have a noble boy — 
Barton — the joy and life of their happy home. 

Bro. H. was Assistant Principal in the St. Paul 
(Minn.) Bryant and Stratton Business College from 
1873 to '76. He graduated from Oskaloosa College in 
'79, and received the degree of A. M. in '89. His pas- 
toral charges have been four: Three years at DeSoto, 
Iowa; two at Washington, III; six in Oskaloosa, Iowa, 
and one at Colfax, Iowa. From 1889 to '92 he was pre- 
sident of Oskaloosa College. 

In 1893 he was elected Corresponding Sec'y of the 
Iowa Christian Convention where he has served to the 
present time — five years. Those who know him, and 
they are many, bear testimony to his deep consecra- 
tion and persuasive manner in preaching the gospel. 

He has spent most of his life in Iowa — his native 
state — and knows it as a great mission fie^d for the 
Disciples of Christ; he believes in Iowa people and 
in the apostolic plea; he will work on cheerfully, faith- 
fully, untiringly and successfully to the end, and re- 
joice in the victories for Christ, 



givingj not law but love. 



TEXT: For the love of money is a root of all evils. 
1 Timothy 6:10. 

How does God break down the love of 
money? Xot by law, but by love. Giving, in 
the Jewish dispensation was largely governed 
by law. In the Christian dispensation there 
is no law but love. No law demands a tenth 
of 3'our income. Xo law forbids the holding 
of large possessions (1 Tim. 6:17-19.) Xo law 
enjoins absolute poverty. How much we 
shall give is left with us to decide. ''Let each 
man do as he hath purposed in his heart: not 
grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a 
cheerful giver." — 2 Cor. 9:7. "For, if. the 
readiness is there, it is acceptable according 
as a man hath, not according as he hath not.'' 
— 2 Cor. 8:12. "Whatsoever ye do, do it 
heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men." 
Col. 3:23. The Revised Version in the mar- 
gin reads, "Do it from the soul". Giving is a 
matter between your soul and your Savior. But 
in giving a percent, or all, or none, ^ow are the 
ultimate court of decision. You sit on the 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 69 

throne and wear the crown and hold the scep- 
ter. It is left with you, God and Christ 
come to you. They come with motives high 
and holy, not with law. You may be con- 
strained by love but never driven by law into 
real giving. 

The law of love is the essential thing in giv- 
ing. The amount given without love counts 
for little or nothing. Take two instances, the 
poles apart, if entered on a ledger: The 
widow's mites, and Paul' s illustration in 1 Cor. 
13:3. The amount in the first case is two- 
fifths of one cent! ! In the other it is "all my 
goods" and my body to be burned at the 
stake! ! The fractions of a cent were marvel- 
ously eulogized and accepted; but the goods 
and the burned body are all condemned and 
rejected. Why? The wicow loved; the great 
giver and martyr did not. Jesus said, "It is 
more blessed to give than to receive." Why? 
Because it is more blessed to pour out love 
than it is to drink it in. We all know what it 
it is to be loved — to receive. Let us learn the 
other. How shall we learn the blessedness 
of giving? 

BY PRACTICE. 

In music, if you do not sound the notes or 
touch the keys how can you become a musi- 
cian? In art, you stretch the canvas, sketch 
the picture, mix the paints and apply the 
brush. In the kinsjdom of heaven we learn 



70 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

by doing. John 7:17. Now as a starting 
place, turn to 1 Cor. 16:2. "Each one" is 
asked to express bis love by giving. The 
giving should be regular, like eating, or piano 
practice, or rent paying or taxes. It was fif- 
ty-two times a year in Corinth (v. 3). Accord- 
ing to what standard? "As he may prosper" 
or "as God hath prospered him." Make it a 
certain per cent of your income 'before living 
out of it. Say ten per cent with the hope of 
making it fifteen or twenty per cent some 
day. Or make it five with the full, determina- 
tion to raise it later to ten or fifteen. And 
make it a sacred privilege never to be neglec- 
ted on any account. When a majority of 
Christians do that, all the difficult problems 
of church and missionary finance will vanish. 
By the universal adoption of it there is every- 
thing to gain and nothing to lose. With that 
rule you put yourselves in the ranks of cheer- 
ful givers, for it is your own free choice. In 
fixing your per cent rule, you will not go be- 
low ten if you can avoid it. You will want to 
show your love at least as much as the Jews, 
and the Mormons of Salt Lake, and some of the 
Seventh Day Adventists. We have something 
better than they and we will want to pay at 
least as much for it. With a large following 
of the principles of the Tenth Legion there 
would be a marvelous increase of the Lord's 
money. Missionary treasuries would not 
know debt and the church committees on fi- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 71 

nance would be the happiest of all. A Chica- 
go business man, famous also as a church 
worker, related his experience at the Interna- 
tional S. S. Convention, Louisville, Ky., in 1884. 
I will never forget him or his story. He had been 
from boyhood a liberal giver. Well on in life 
he with his good wife made a study of the 
tithing system as practiced now in many 
quarters and as anciently laid down in Jewish 
law. He adopted it. He was astonished at 
the abundance of the Lord's share. After 
paying his usual pledges to missions, to the 
church, to Sunday-school work, to the Y. M. 
C. A. and to other gospel work, he found a 
large amount yet on hand, "I had to hunt 
about" said he, "for new objects upon which 
to spend my Lord's money." 

Just here no doubt some one is in trouble. 
Is it right for a giver to get up before a con- 
vention and tell that he gives one-tenth of his 
income? Did not Jesus say, "Let not thy left 
hand know what thy right hand doeth." I 
have solved the apparent difficulty as follows • 
Jesus applied these words to alms giving, not 
to tithe paying. Let us do the same. Let us 
pay the tenth for gospel purposes first and 
after that 2^^}^\y Christ's rule to alms giving. 
Let all however who pay a tenth use care how 
thej speak of it in public or private. Do not 
boast of it as did the publican (Lu. 18:12) but 
practice it and teach it as Christ did" in humil- 
ity. 



72 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ENTERING THE TENTH LEGION. 

Entering the Tenth Legion puts new 
meaning into Matt. 6:33 — "Seek ye first the 
kingdom of God and his righteousness." Many 
good men and women make the kingdom of 
God second when it comes to money matters. 
The Tenth Legion makes it first. If I invest 
81,000 of saved up capital and lose it all, my 
church pledge is not diminished or suspended. 
Because my giving is a certain per cent of my 
income for the month or the year and no part 
whatever of the capital laid up in former 
years. Discontinuing a church pledge to re- 
pair lost capital is putting capital first and 
God's kingdom second, All families econo- 
mize for various reasons — rich or poor, all do 
it. Some to pay out on a new piece of proper- 
t}^, some on account of hard times, some to go 
on a journey, or to visit the old world, or to at- 
tend a summer school; some to repair a loss 
by fire, or by adverse business. Some to pur- 
chase a piano, or carriage, or wheel, or a dia- 
mond ring. Some because their wages are 
cut down. Some to save up for old age, or to 
start their children in life. When the Tenth 
Legion enters on rigid economy, the church 
and the missionary society never know it. 
They can't feel it because God's kingdom is 
first in money matters. From their income 
they first take the Lord's tenth and lay it by 
for Him. T/ie?i they economize with what is 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 73 

left. There is in this way of doing a beauti- 
ful consistency. It is true self-denial. If I 
economize for some desired thing and, in or- 
der to get it, I cut down my church pledge 
half and put the other half into my special 
fund, the whole fund is poisoned. I ha.ve 
robbed God and put his money into a fund 
which must be described by some name. Can 
I call it "My self-denial fund?" Is it not rather 
"A fund poisoned by God-denial?" It is a 
beautiful thing, in economizing, to make the 
kingdom of God first. Increased style of liv- 
ing often times throws the kingdom out of 
first into second place. It may take ten or 
twenty years to do it. "Slow but sure" is an 
old mottc^, very applicable here, and doubling 
the slowness often multiplies the sureness. 
Let us examine ourselves a moment. Take the 
last five or ten years. Many of us spend more 
on our wardrobe now than we did then. Some 
of us live in homes twice as expensive. Oth- 
ers have luxuries never dreamed of then. 
But we pay just the same exactly to the church 
and missions! ! Some perhaps not so much! ! ! 
The kingdom has taken second place, if it 
started in first place (?) Our income has in- 
creased. Our expenditures for self have in- 
creased. But the Lord's part, has not. 
Such a thing cannot happen in the Tenth 
Legion. If you have removed into a place 
far from your own church where you cannot 
be called upon and where your mission boards 



74 EOCTRINE AND LIFE 

do not know how to reach you, your tenth 
finds its wa}' to some part of the Lord's work 
just as of old. Rerooval makes no difference, 
because you belong to the Tenth Legion — you 
make the kingdom first. Best of all, it makes 
the Lord Jesus Christ a real partner with 
you. If you lose, he loses and it is best. If 
he gains, you gain, and it is good. Such part- 
nership is the best insurance. 

GIVING ENRICHES THE GIVER. 

There is gain in giving. The scriptures 
appeal strongly to this motive. The harvest 
fields of all ages have recruited and multiplied 
their armies by promises of reward. The ar- 
mic s of progress and civilization are marching 
into lands of promise. Hope of reward is to 
them a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by 
night. When the church of Jesus Christ was 
launched it was bidden to direct its course by 
this star — the gain of giving. ''Whosoever 
shall give you a cup of water to drink, be- 
cause you are Christ's, verily I say unto j'ou, 
he shall in no wise lose his reward (Mark 9: 
41.)'* It IS not selfish for the giver to think 
of his reward. When Je&us gave himself on 
the cross, he sustained himself by the thought 
of the joy to be gained. Heb. 12:2. It is not 
wrong for the giver to weigh his gains. It is 
not selfishness. Peter on a memorable occa- 
sion said totheChrist (Matt. 19:27). ''We have 
left or given all. What shall we have there- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 75 

fore or for it?'' Did the Master reprove him 
for this study into his Loss and Gain account. 
Did he brand it as selfish commercialism? 
Not at all. But he footed up Peter's account, 
struck the balance on the side of gain and 
gave it to him. Nor did he stop at that. He 
applied the promise of gain to every great 
giver (v. 29). "Every one ^ * * shall receive 
an hundred fold and shall inherit eternal life." 
Christian gi^'ing is not a losing business. 
Christ does not say that a liberal giver shall 
never suffer persecution or a business re- 
verse. He does not say that a cheerful giver 
shall die more wealthy than his fellows and 
leave more acres to his children. He does 
not appeal to selfishness, but to faith and love. 
He does say, trust me, leave it to me a ad you 
will not lose anything in the long run. Your 
gift may go into unworthy hands, it may go 
to a lost enterprise, it may be squandered but 
coming from the soul and because of Christ's 
love it is not lost. 

The good done to our fellow men is a 
powerful motive with most givers, but it is not 
the highest motive. In Washington, III. at 
great sacrifice a new and commodious church 
house was built by a small band of workers. 
The last bill was hardly paid when the house 
burned to the ground. With much sacrifice 
they reared up a second house and paid for 
that oaly to have it struck by lightening, 
leaviag in the dark night but a second hand- 



76 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ful of ashes. The grief and despair were so 
deep that it seemed impossible to build a 
third house. One spark of faith was left, it 
kindled a fire of zeal and the third house went 
up, making three inside of a few months. 
The two or three thousand dollars put into the 
third house have done enough good to thor- 
oughly repay the builders of it. How about 
the $6,000 when the other two houses went to 
ashes? What good did they do? None but a 
philosopher can answer and even that phil- 
osopher could not convince the people. How 
about the gain of giving? Was that $6,000 
lost? The givers of it, will they lose their re- 
ward? Neither money nor men burned for 
Christ's sake are lost. "Whosoever shall 
seek to gain his life shail lose it; but whoso- 
ever shall lose his life shall preserve it (Luke 
17:33)." On the same principle that $6,000 
in ashes is laid up where thieves do not break 
through and steal. Giving — Christian giving 
— enriches the giver. There are more bles- 
sings open to the giver than to the receiver. 
love's lesson. 
Love soon learns another helpful lesson. 
It 'is this: Great possessions are not essential to 
usefulness or happiness. Who are more praised 
for their splendid services to humanity to-day 
than Paul and Christ? Yet none were poorer. 
Nor need you go outside your own town to 
gnd persons like them. Whoever stored up 
more joy and happiness for themselves and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 77 

others than these two? Or reverse your pic- 
ture. What shall it profit if you gain the 
whole world and lose your own soul? Add the 
"here" and the "hereafter," find their sum 
and in all it is better to be Lazarus than to be 
Dives. What speaks more forcibly than the 
story of the rich barn-builder, tearing down 
the old and building larger, counting on 
"many years" of ease and dying that night to 
begin eternity as a pauper — no treasure in 
heaven? Our own age teaches us that a mul- 
ti-millionaire may be the most useless and the 
most miserable of beings. Witness the career 
of Barnay Barnato, the South African Dia 
mond King!! Said an American Capitalist, 
"The most miserable of all men is the man 
who has nothing but money." 

' 'A man's life consisteth not in the abun- 
dance of the things which he possesseth. ' ' 
Luke 12:15. A. M. Haggard. 




\V. M. HOLLETT. 



W. M. HOLLETT. 

I first met W. M. Hollett in the sprincr of 1882 when 
he came to Oskaloosa College from his farm home in 
Davis county, Iowa. He had previously spent three 
months in the Southern Iowa Normal, and had taught 
several terms of school to secure the means of attemd- 
ing college. He taught one year after entering college, 
and graduated June 16, 1887. 

He preached his first sermon April 5, 1885, in the 
Gear school house near Meridan. Iowa. E. C. Sander- 
son, now Dean of the Eugene (Oregon) Divinity School, 
being present and commending highly his first effort. 

He located first with the MouHon and Lost Creek 
churches: then labored with the congregations at Can- 
tril and Keosoqua. He resigned the work at the last 
two places to go to Clarion, where he remained from 
Jan. 1, 1891 to April, 1893. when he moved to Dorches- 
ter Neb ; but returned to Iowa and Sept. '84 located 
with the church at Arlington, (then Brush Creek) of 
which church he is still pastor. 

During his work at the last named place, the con- 
gregation has grown in numbers; and the old church 
house has been replaced by a neat house which is a 
credit co the congregation and their minister, 

At Clarion, la , he met Miss Mary E Wassson, an 
intelligent and noble woman, and on June 16, 1891, they 
were married at Merom, Ind., in Union Christian Col- 
lege, Miss Wasson's Alma Mater, and in which she 
served as teacher. His family consists of four bright 
children, two boys and two girls. 

One of the best things that can be said for a man 
is that he bears acquaintance. This can be said of W. 
M. Hollett. Those who have known him longest regard 
him most kindly. They admire his grit, persistence, 
kindness, forgiving spirit, earnestness, happy temper 
under difficulties, his manly character. He is a good 
friend and excellent pastor. Mary E. Wood. 



HOW TO LIVE 



W. M. HOLLETT. 



^'3Ian shall not live by Lreacl alone, huthy every ic or d 
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" Matt. 4:4. 

John the Baptist preaching in the wilder- 
ness had called all Jerusalem and Judea to re- 
pentance and baptism. His fame had reached 
throughout all Palestine, and the time when 
Jesus should begin his wonderful ministry 
was at hand. He laid down the hammer and 
the saw, the square and the plane. His last 
day's work as a carpenter was at an end and 
his specific work as a Teacher and the Savior 
was about to begin. He had a fond farewell 
to that home which was nob to be his home 
from this time on. He traveled from his 
home in Nazareth to the place of John's 
baptism at Bethabara on the Jordan for the 
purpose of being baptized and of thus being 
made manifest to Israel." John recognizing 
the majesty, purity and innocence of Jesus as 
superior to that of himself, refused to baptize 
him, saying," I have need to be baptized of 
thee, and comest thou to me?'" But Jesus 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 83 

answered, "Suffer it to be so now for thus it 
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." 
This with John was an end to controversy. 
Where the Master spoke he would be silent. 
And so Jesus was baptized. He, the immacu- 
late Son of God, was not too good to obey— to 
submit to the baptism of repentance, an ordi- 
nance designed for sinful creatures. And 
this, he explained, was needful in order to ful- 
fill all righteousness. He came not to "des- 
troy the law" — to override and trample it un- 
derfoot— "but to fulfill," (Matt. 5:17,18). 
Had he refused to yield to the smallest part, 
even though it be but a "jot or a tittle" of the 
law, or of God's will concerning him, he would 
have become sinful, unfit to stand before Is- 
rael and the world as the perfect Exemplar, 
the Savior of Men. So also, any person who 
knowingly and willingly violates any part of 
God's law, is to that extent unfitted to lead 
others into righteousness and unto salvation. 
Because Jesus was so faithful in submit- 
ting to the ordinance of baptism, which is 
sometimes considered the smallest part of 
God's law, while he was yet "coming up out of 
the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, 
and the spirit as a dove descending upon him, 
and a voice came out of the heavens, 'Thou 
art my beloved Son in whom I am well 
pleased.' " This was the sign by which John 
should certainly know Jesus as the "Lamb of 
God which taketh away the sin of the world." 



84 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

And now, without discussing the inscrutable 
things of the atonement, let me say that in 
God's plan of salvation, it was designed that 
the Sinless One, by the magnetism of his 
matchless character, his perfect love, his per- 
fect sacrifice, his perfect life of obedience 
should draw men and women unto himself, 
that is, unto the perfection of his life and 
character. So that Jesus, by the power of 
his example, as well as by word of mouth is 
saying, "Come unto me all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden and I will give you rest." So 
also it was designed that through the minis- 
tration of persons whose purity of character 
and iife of obedience showed them to be the 
earnest followers of the Sinless One, still 
other men and women should be led unto 
Christ and salvation. Would you then, my 
friend, be a savior of men ? Let nothing go 
undone which the Lori Jesus asks you to do. 
For you "know that he which converteth the 
sinner from the error of his way shall save a 
soul from death and shall hide a multitude of 
sins." (Jas. 5:20). How can you "convert a 
sinner from the error of his way" while 3^ou are 
walking in disobedience? 

That implicit trusting faith shown by the 
Savior in yielding to the will of the Father in 
baptism is a manifestation of intensest loyal- 
ty. There can be no sufficient reason given 
for baptism except that God has commanded 
it. It miffht even seem to be nonsense if he 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 85 

had not commanded it. But with the author- 
ity of God's command, it becomes the greatest 
wisdom, for "God hath choosen the foolish 
things of the world to confound the wise." 
(1 Cor. 1:27). It is said that a certain king 
employed two servants to dip the water from 
a well that was on his premises. He placed a 
basket into which they should pour the water 
and left them to the performance of their 
task. One ot them reasoned thus: "It will 
be of no use to pour the water into the basket 
for it will run out and be lost. Therefore, I 
will not do it." And he put down his bucket 
and went away. The other said, "Though I 
see no reason for doing this except that the 
king has commanded it, he undoubtedly has a 
good reason for it." And so he continued dip- 
ping water until the last bucket full was 
poured into the basket when he saw in the 
bottom of the basket a diamond of great value. 
The king was very much pleased with the 
faithfulness of this servant and made him the 
chief officer of his realm. He had shown him- 
self faithful in a little thing, he would be 
made ruler over many. The person who is 
lacking in loyalty or faithfulness, will in the 
face of God's commandment ask "Why?'' 
Many a person who is "trying to be good," or 
who is "just as good as church members" has 
stumbled here and betrayed his disloyalty to 
the King of kings, and has shown his un- 
worthiness to be known as a follower of him 



86 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

whose whole life was wrapt up in that saying, 
*'I came to do thy will, O God." May I not 
hope that some one who reads this may be led 
to see the folly of disobeying God even in the 
smallest things. It is not wise to trample 
underfoot even one "jot or tittle" of God's 
will. Turn then before it is too late. 

But now that Jesus has avowed his trust 
in the Father, his willingness to lean not on 
his own understanding but on the understand- 
ing of the all- wise God; and has declared his 
purpose to fulfill the whole law of God, the de- 
vil is ready to assail that stronghold. And it 
Is a stronghold we erect about us when we re- 
solve to know and obey the whole law of God. 
And just so long as we remain true to that re- 
solution, the fiery darts of the wicked one can 
not touch us. But if in any way by deceit or 
flattery, he can induce us to forsake that 
stronghold and como out to battle in our own 
strength, he gains an easy victory. As we 
might expect, however, he was not successful 
in leading the Savior to trust in his own 
strength and disobey his Father's will. After 
he had fasted forty days and forty nights and 
was hungry, the devil taking advantage of his 
hunger and weakness, said, "If thou be the 
Son of God, command that these stones be 
made bread." And Jesus answered, "It is 
written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God.' " In this answer Jesus shows 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 87 

how well he had kept the resolution to know 
the will of the Father and to obey it. Esau 
when hungry, disobeyed his father's will, sell- 
ing his birthright for a mess of pottage. Je- 
sus when hungry, would live by the word of 
God, rather than satisfy his hunger in a way 
contrary to God's will. He would trust the 
Father to take care of him. He showed his 
familiarity with the scriptures which contain 
the will of the Father. Standing thus en- 
trenched behind God's word his position was 
impregnable and his assailant was driven to 
an inglorious defeat. Did the Father forsake 
him, or did he reward his faithfulness? 
Judge ye, for it is written, ''ThcD the devil 
leaveth him and behold angels came and min- 
istered unto him." 

''Man shall not live by 'bread alone.'''' Yet 
this is the ordinary way in which me a seek to 
live. They labor for the bread that satisfy- 
eth not. They seek to gratify their appetites, 
their passions and their desires. They take 
account only of the physical and temporal side 
of their being, but the Master takes account 
of the spiritual and eternal side of his being. 
Man shall live by every word which proceed- 
eth out of the mouth of God. Bread taken 
in right proportion and under proper condi- 
tions will sustain the body but it cannot sus- 
tain the soul, much less build up and strength- 
en it. Still less can a life of indulgence in 
pleasure develop, brighten and beautify the 



88 doctrin:e and life 

spiritual side of man's being thus fitting it for 
the eternal state of perfection. 

''Man shall not live by bread alone.'' 
Neither shall he live b}^ the word of God 
alone. It would be just as true to say that 
man can be saved by faith alone. But we 
know that man is saved by the ''obedience of 
faith" as well. So too we know that when 
man lives by the word of God, that word di- 
rects him in all his life — in his coming to 
Christ, in his prayers and his songs, in his 
work and his recreation, in the bank and the 
counting house, in the store and the work- 
shop, in the field and the factory, in the kitch- 
en and the laundry. It directs him in the 
treatment of his family, hit. friend, and his 
enemy. It directs in his eating and drinking, 
— it teaches him to be temperate, to eat and 
drink moderately that which is helpful and ab- 
stain from eating and drinking that which is 
hurtful. 

"Man shall live by every word that pro- 
ceedeth out of the mouth of God." Living is 
the opposite of dying. To live by the word 
of God is not to die. We die by the word of 
the devil. Our foreparents in the garden of 
Eden were living by the word of God until the 
devil in form of a serpent appeared, then they 
began to die by the word of the deviL God 
said, "In the daj^ thou eatest there of dying 
thou shalt die." But the devil said, "Ye 
shall not surely die," and forthwith they be- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 89 

gan to die by that word. Death both of the 
body and of the soul was the result of that 
disobedience to God's word. Therefore, Paul 
says, "By one man sin entered the world, and 
death by sin; for that all have sinned, (Rom. 
5:12). So then we can easily see that, if the 
sinful life results in death to body and soul the 
sinless life results in continued life both to 
body and soul. Hence, when the Savior came 
to destroy the work of the devil and the ef- 
fects thereof, he said, ' 'I am come that they 
might have life, and that they might have it 
more abundantly." (Jno. 10:10). Evidently they 
should have more abundant life as their right- 
eousness was more aoundant. He would give 
them life by inducing them to forsake the 
word of the devil and live by the word of God. 
That is, physical and spiritual life will follow 
as a direct result of forsaking sin and follow- 
ing Jesus. Hence, we find that Jesus' mira- 
cles of healing were performed upon or for 
believers, who were in the way of life^ which 
would bring them in sooner or later to the en- 
joyment of life. He simply forstalled the na- 
tural result by his miracles. We know that 
the word of God effects the body as well as 
the spirit. It shows its effects upon the 
bodies of men as soon as they obey it. It 
makes a sober man of a drunkard; and who 
is there who does not know that this gives 
health and longer life? It makes a temperate 
man of the glutton; and this too gives health 



90 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

and longer life. It makes a filthy man clean, 
and this gives nature a chance to prolong the 
life. It makes an unrighteous man righteous 
and gives perfect peace to him whose mind is 
stayed on the Lord; this gives freedom from 
anxiety and worry which is conducive to hap- 
piness, health and long life. Hence, Paul 
says again, "Godliness is profitable unto all 
things, having the promise of the life that 
now is and of that which is to come." (1 Tim. 
4:8) 

The wise man said, "Righteousness ex- 
alteth a nation," and "The fear of the Lord 
prolongeth days. " We should expect there- 
fore to find the average of human life pro- 
longed in proportion as the word of God is 
more and more known and lived throughout 
the world. And this is true not onl}^ of human 
life, but of national life as well. When the 
nation begins to disregard more and more the 
laws of morality and justice which are the 
laws of God, it sows the seed of disolution 
which if not uprooted will bring death. But 
what would be the result if perfect righteous- 
ness should prevail throughout the world? 
Then the kingdoms of this world are become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ; and 
he shall reign forever and ever," (Rev. 11:15). 
And if life is prolonged indefinitely and the 
multiplied myriads of God's children should 
fill the earth, let no one be alarmed for God 
can take care of them, if not in the ordinary 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 91 

way, then in the extraordinary way. The 
same word which spoke worlds into existence 
can by the same means feed and clothe his 
children. Remember Elijah who was taken 
unto God without seeing death. "Seek first 
the kingdom of God and his righteousness and 
all these things shall be added unto you." 
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth 
of God." Let us believe and behold the 
beauty of our king. 




p. D. HOLLOWAY. 



p. D. HOLLOWAY. 

This engraving is a representation of our 
brother and faithful preacher of the Church of Christ, 
Perry D. Holloway. He is pleasantly remembered by 
the writer as an associate in college life in Christian 
University at Canton, Mo. , where he took a course in 
the College of the Bible, He has had success both as 
an evangelist and as a stationed preacher. Bro. Hollo- 
way has proven himself to be a learned, shrewd and 
able defender of the faith which was once delivered un- 
to the saints. He has had two oral discussions much 
to the edification of the Christian churches where held. 
His latter debate was held with W. A. Hatton, a noted 
Baptist preacher at Milton, Iowa, April, 1896. The 
writer acted as moderator for Holloway. He made a 
noble and manly defense of the truth of the Gospel of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

He was born in Adair county. Mo., Aug. 12 1854, 
and spent his boyhood on a farm, receiving a rural ed- 
ucation. He then attended the North Missouri State 
Normal at Kirksville; then took a course in Oakland 
College, and still later a course in Christian Univer- 
sity. He was the mathematical hero of all tne schools 
he attended, always in classes with those from two to 
six years his senior. While in Oakland College he did 
in six weeks the work of twenty weeks in Plane Geom- 
etry as taught at Kirksville making a fiaal grade of 98. 
Brother Holloway spent a part of his life, from 16 to 23 
as clerk in a store, commencing as chore-boy, and, by 
doing well the humbler duties, he was promoted to the 



96 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

position of book keeper. He spent fifteen years in the 
school-room as teacher, his first term being taught in a 
little log school house, and when he ceased his occupa- 
tion, he held the position of Principal of the city schools 
of Edina, capital of Knox county, Mo. He was for two 
years county superintendent of Knox county. He was 
President of Hurdland Academy '82-'86. 

After deciding to enter the ministry he accepted a 
charge and preached his first sermon at Hurdland, Mo. 
He was Sunday-school Evangelist for Southeaist and 
Northeast Districts of Missouri for '91. He resigned 
this work to take the ministry of the churches at Far- 
mingtoQ and Keosauqua, preaching three years at each. 
Brother Holloway is a fluent speaker and presents bis 
thoughts in a clear, forcible and earnest manner. He 
is also a sweet singer. He is now preaching his 
fourth year at Milten and Cantril, la. He has endeared 
himself to his congregations, as is proven by their 
hearty co-operation in all plans that are for the best in- 
terest of church and pastor. 

J. A. Grow. 
Downing, Mo. 



THE TRUE DIGNITY OF MAN, 



PERRY D. HOLLOW AY. 

^^What is man that thou art mindful of himf and the 
son of man that thou visitest him?'^ Psa. 8:4. 

By the meditation of David upon the starrj^ 
worlds, their harmony of movement as though 
controlled by some pondrous engine, the im- 
measurable space in which they perform their 
evolutions, their influence one upon another 
as the work of the fingers of God, he is led to 
ask the question of the text. Viewed per- 
haps, from another standpoint, the Psalmist 
says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." 
(Psa. 139:14.) 

It is not necessary in the discussion of 
our theme to enter into the consideration of 
man as a physical being, further than to call 
attention by way of emphasis to the quotation 
above, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." 
Anatomically considered man is a most com- 
plicated machine; an osseous S3^stem of such 
perfect fitness and adaptation of part to part 
that it defies the skill of the most perfect 
joiner. A muscular sj^stem which when de- 



98 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

veloped, gives to the body a beauty of form 
and a grace in movement not found elsewhere 
among all creation; an organization involving 
every principle of mechanics. A circulatory 
system through which is carried to every part 
of the body that substance exact]}' fitted for 
the rebuilding of the body, necessitated by 
the constant waste going on. To these add a 
a perfect respiratory system and we can be- 
gin to understand why David used the words, 
"fearfully" and "wonderfully". But as 
though God was linking the immaterial with 
the material He reaches the climax of con- 
struction in the completeness of the nervous 
system. As Prof. Ferguson said, "Strip man 
of all his flesh, his bones, his internal organs, 
his circulatory system, his respiratory organs, 
and still there is remaining a perfect man — the 
nervous." This is indeed marvelous! A set 
of nerves with which we see, one with which 
we hear, one with which we feel, another for 
tasting, and still another for smelling. The 
sensory nerves as seatinels posted at all 
points, by which we are notified of all exter- 
nal danger, communicating the news to the 
mind where orders are issued to the motor- 
nerves to have that part of the body thus en- 
dangered removed, forms a most perfect tele- 
graphic communication. 

"The proper study of mankind is man" is 
as true today as it was when Pope first spoke 
the sentence, or as when David asked, "What 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 99 

is man that thou art mind ml of him?" In our 
present duty it shall be our purpose, as far as 
possible, to learn and to know man as God in- 
tended him to be when He said, "Let us make 
man in our own image, after our likeness." 
(Gen. 1:26). 

As an introduction then to the discussion 
of the subject to be considered it will be pro- 
per to ask whence our information? My ans- 
wer is from all fields wherein God has record- 
ed truth concerning man, and in particular 
from the Bible. As a question in science, the 
origin of man has been discussed again and 
again but without reaching a conclusion satis- 
factory even to the most ardent believers in 
the Darwinian theory of evolution. The chasm 
of the "missing link" leaves man's origin in 
the darkness of midnight ignorance; and with- 
out a knowledge of his origin we can know 
nothiug of his true dignity, his purpose in the 
scale of creation. 

It is safe then to say that without the rev- 
elation found in the Bible man is in total dark- 
ness with reference to his origin or his desti- 
ny and is therefore devoid of all knowledge 
concerning his true digniby. Without the 
knowledge gleaned from the Bible man could 
no more know that he is a man, than can an ox 
or a horse know that he is such. The origin 
of life, the union of mind and matter, the con- 
trol of the phpsicalby the mental, are unsolved 
psycological problems beyond the reach ' of 



100 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

man; and hence, God alone holds the kej^ that 
may sometime unlock the mysteries to the 
view of redeemed man when he shall have 
reached the true dignit}^ for which he was by 
an infinite God intended. Why it is so we can 
not tell, but man unaided by Holy Writ, m the 
study of man, has always placed a low concep- 
tion upon his origin. Suppose the Darwinian 
theory is true and that man, through a long 
series of centuries, has been evolved through 
the lower animals, originating in what these 
scientists are pleased to call protoplasm, and 
what would be vour admiration of m an' s d ignity ? 
Let your own consecrated, sanctified, common 
sense answer. On the other hand God has al- 
ways pointed to man's nobility — in the image 
and likeness of God, a little lower than the an- 
gels, crowned with glory and honor, and set 
over the works of God. What a difference be- 
tween these two views I We are now ready to 
discuss first, 

I. Mans Position in Xature. 

1. From the account given in Gen. 1 :26, 
we learn that while man is last he is best in 
creation. After all else was done there ap- 
pears to have been a pause as though the Cre- 
ator looked upon His work as incomplete, 
when He said to the Logos, ' 'Let us make man 
in our own image, after our likeness. And let 
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 
and over the fowl of the air, and over the' cat- 
tie, and over all the earth, and over every 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 101 

creeping thing, that creepethupon the earth.'' 
Thus not only last and best, but also a ruler, a 
king, he comes from the hand of his Creator. 
A ruler not only of the beasts of the field, but 
of the soil, the earth, and the elements. How 
man has demonstrated this power over and 
again, is seen in his conquering wild and vic- 
ious animals, subjbgating them, compelling 
them to come and go at his bidding. From the 
dog, so faithful to his master, to the roaring 
lion, the blood-thirsty tiger, thegiant elephant, 
venomous serpent, the birds, and even over 
the great whale, man has shown his mastery. 
The wilderness with its briars and thorns, has 
been converted into fields with golden grain, 
and gardens with blooming flowers, a verita- 
ble eden, by the power and genius of man. 
Not satisfied wita these, man has captured 
the lightning from the clouds and harness- 
ed it — and com pells it to do servile 
work for him. With the aid of this sub- 
power we are able to communicate with 
distant lands, draw our street-cars ladened 
with human freight through the cities, light 
the streets and buildings, and do many other 
useful duties. He is not only king of his as- 
sociates but king of circumstances. One of 
my first lessons received a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago from that pioneer teacher and preach- 
er. Dr. Joseph Baldwin, was "learn to control 
circumstances." With this power man builds 
ships in wnich he outrides the storms, cross- 



102 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

es the great deep and opens to the world for 
settlement the before unknown countries. 

2. As another consideration of man's po- 
sition in nature, David informs us that God's 
purpose was to exalt man insomuch as he is 
but a littte lower than the angels. As though 
he was expecting help from above, his eyes 
easily turn upward, while the eyes of the 
beasts turn toward the earth. 

3. By the peculiar union formed when 
God breathed the breath of life into man, it 
conditioned him for immortality. Not satis- 
fied with the things of this life, there arises in 
the soul a longing for something beyond, a 
hungering and thirsting for that not found 
this side the river of death. If this be not so, 
whence the idea of immortality? If the evo- 
lution theory is true, it might be well to ask 
at what stage in the transformation man came 
into possession of the idea of immortality? 
The correct answer is that man was stamped 
by his Creator, and fitted for that agelasting 
existence. 

What then is the answer to the question, 
what is man's place in creation? He is a king- 
vested with authority to rule over all lower 
creation, and standing upon the topmost round 
of the ladder, but a little lower than the an- 
gels, he is by the hand of his Divine Creator 
crowned with glory and honor and destined to 
immortality. Let us now consider, 

//. Man's Relation to God, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 103 

1. We are told that man was created in 
the image and likeness of God, and, inasmuch 
as God is a spirit, it follows that spiritually, 
man resembles his Creator. It is not then in 
his bodily form that he bears the stamp of his 
Divine Maker, but in a.ll that is not flesh and 
blood; and, hence, in his spirituality, mental- 
ity and morality he bears the Divine imprint. 
Whil-». God is infinite and man is finite, yet 
man's powers are sufficient to grasp the idea 
oi the Divine purpose of creation. As to man's 
mentality, its strength, its possibilities, we 
have but to view its progress from its earliest 
manifestations in childhood to its gigantic 
strength in manhood. The slow but sure pro- 
cess of unfolding the mind of the child is a 
most interesting stud3^ The normal process 
has been the study of the best educators of 
the world. The ideathat "any one" can teach a 
child has been relegated to the dark ages- 
where it properly belongs, and has been re 
placed by the sensible view that the very best 
talent is required to develop the child-mind. 
From the earliest impressions, like the bricks 
one by one placed in their proper places, the 
wall is completed, so idea added to idea the 
mind is developed, drawn out till the intellect 
becomes almost God-like in its conceptions. 
With this highly developed mind man has 
stolen the secrets of the stars, learned their 
velocity as they perform their various func- 
tions in their respective orbits, and learns 



104 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

from the starry world — one of God's great 
books — the same lesson found in the Bible: 
Psa. 19: "The heavens declare the glory of 
God, and the fimament showeth forth His 
handiwork. Day Unto day uttereth speach 
and night unto night showeth knowledge." 
Not only has the starry heavens furnished a 
field for his researches, but the rocks, hidden 
for ages in the bowels of the earth, have been 
uncovered and from their silent faces he has 
been able to read the story of creation. With 
what interest the student of geology pursues 
his study as the startling truths recorded in 
mother earth are revealed to him. Then is he 
better able to understand how that when ^^In 
the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth. And the earth was without form and 
void, and darkness was upon the face of the 
deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the 
face of the waters, ' ' and this mighty work of ere - 
ation was accomplished. It is stated elsewhere 
in this discourse that man's conception of man 
is low. And now I ask if it be not true, since 
man is thus highly endowed by his Creator 
with this gigantic power — mind — when he 
leaves it to slumber, or awakened only with 
childish strength, or if developed to be wast- 
ed in sin against the God of his.creafon? A 
mind filled only with thoughts of the low and 
groveling things of earth, blasted by sin, de- 
formed as the inebriate, has indeed a low and 
degrading conception of the true dignity of 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 105 

man. The higher and finer sense of man's 
moral nature, by which he is led into higher 
and nobler fields of thought, stamps him as a 
being of superior strength and position. It is 
this attribute in man that leads him to rightly 
consider bis obligations to his fellowman. De- 
prived of this moral sense he has no respect 
for the property-rights of another, hence a 
thief; no respect for life, hence a murderer. 

2. As a second consideration of man's 
relation to God we shall consider him as a 
worshipful being. When it is stated that 
birds and flowers, beasts and trees, flowing 
stream and murmuring brook, hill and dale, 
mountain and plain worship God, it is only 
true as the production of the fertile brain of 
the muse. Man and man only is a true wor- 
shiper of God. Eadowed in creation with 
that faculty of soul that calls for something 
not found in this life; that faculty of soul that 
hungers and thirsts for what this world does 
not afford, and can only be satisfied, filled 
with that meat and with that drink furnished 
by a loving Savior who said, "Blessed are 
they who do hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness; for they shall be filled. (Matt. 5:6); it 
is that meat and that drink dispensed as a 
blessing to the true worshiper. It is because 
of this worshipful nature that man is fitted to 
become a partner with God and with Christ. 
It was the Apostle of love who said, "That 
which we have seen and heard, declare we un- 



106 DOCTRLSIE AlsD LIFE 

to you, that ye also may have fellowship with 
us; and truly our fellowship (partnership) is 
with the Father and with His Son, Jesus 
Christ," (1 Jno. 1:3)' 

The whole ?chenie of redemption is based 
upon this principle; that while man is wor- 
shipful by nature as seen in the savage, he 
has sinned and come short of the glory of 
God. No w, that man might reach the glory 
of God and not be a failure in creation, God 
sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
and by a sacrifice for sin, condemned sin in 
the flesh, and thus finally reached the ultimate 
design in creation; viz., a worshipper of God. 
This brings us to a third consideiation of our 
subject. 

III. Man's Possibilities In This life And 
In The life To Come, 

1. We have already noticed some of 
man's possibilities in this life under the 
the thought of his intellectual power in pass- 
ing from a child to a sage. But now that we 
may understand more fully the possibilities in 
this life and then, by reasoning analogically, 
we may know something of his possibilities in 
the life to come, let us resume the study. 

A man of culture, in some ungarded mo- 
ment, has committed a crime for which he is 
thrown into prison. Alone in his gloomy cell, 
he broods over his misfortunes, contemplat- 
ing the shame and the disgrace brought upon 
him. But his mind asserts its independence 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 107 

and rising above the surroundings, bids adieu 
to the body for the time, and, as upon eagle 
pinions, soars away through etherea heights to 
dwell among the stars — the work of the fin- 
gers of God. As the pedestrian would step 
from one stone to another in the street-cross- 
ing, so he moves from world to world. With 
wonder and admiration he views the ponder- 
ous bodies that form system after S3'stem, 
hanging in space, kept there by the word of 
God, he exclaims, "When I consider thy heav- 
ens, the works of thy finger, the moon and the 
stiars which thou hast ordained; what is man 
that thou art mindful of him? And the son of 
man that thou visiteth him?'' Then he re- 
members that God has offered a home to that 
soul that loves Him; a home eternal in the 
heavens, a house of many mansions. In this 
reflective mood, standing above all earthly 
things, he tries to contemplate the joys of the 
life that lies beyond. He sees by faith that 
city whose builder and maker is God; he sees 
the jasper walls, the gates of pearl; the streets 
paved not with brick or stone, but paved with 
the purest gold; the river of life with its cool 
sparkling waters fringed on either side with 
the tree of life, presents a picture upon which 
he feasts his soul with delight. Then he lis- 
tens and from about the throne placed in the 
center of the city, comes floating upon the 
breezes of heaven, strains of angelic music, 
and he wishes for a harp that he too might 



108 D0CTK1^:£ A^■D LIFE 

sing a song that not even the angels have 
sung. Turning from these pleasant reveries 
and looking below, he sees the gulf of despair 
from which comes the cries of the deluded 
victims found therein. While thus he thinks 
the vision passes as a midaight dream, and 
the next moment he is brooding over the un- 
fortunate condition of his body as it lies con- 
fined in a felon's cell. 

With such possibilities attained as these, 
encumbered with mortality and the environ- 
ments of this life, what, may I ask, are the 
future probablities of the soul when freed 
from all the cares of this present state? The 
spirit freed from the body by the scythe of 
death, like a bird from a cage, flies away to 
the God who gave it. Caught up to the third 
heaven where he can see things not lawfu. 
for him to see in this life, and, with the spirit 
of JQst men made perfect, he drinks in from 
the fountain of divine knowlege throughout 
the ceaseless cycles of eternity. 

2. God has furnished the means for these 
wonderful possibilities in the field of true ev- 
olution. His theory of evolution differs wide- 
ly from that advanced by worldly man. His 
is not to evolve one specie from another, but 
a constant development of the one thing. 
This He does by unfolding one truth after 
another, till Christ, the perfection andembod- 
ment of all truth, is reached; and man, by 
grasping these truths, rises to his greatest 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 109 

height and true dignity. Since by sin came 
death how dependent is man upon God for a 
restoration to his proper place in creation! 
Like the horse uncontrolled by man degen- 
erates into the lowest type, so man unaided 
by divine wisdom, left to his fleshly appetites 
and passions, sinks into a savage, a cannibal. 
But when he listens to the word of Him who 
spake as never man spake, receives the en- 
grafted word which is able to build him up, 
he begins to rise and take his proper place in 
creation, but a little lower than the angels. 




Edgar Price. 



EDGAR D, PRICE. 

He was born in Clark county, Iowa, April 12, 1867. 
His parents— Emerson J. Price and Havilla (Burnette) 
Price. When quite young his parents moved to Ring- 
gold county, on a farm, where Edgar performed the us- 
ual work of a farmer boy, and attended the district 
school in the winter. When eighteen years of age he 
commenced teaching in the public schools and contia- 
ued to be one of the successful teachers of the county 
for three years. 

He was married to Miss Cora B. Talley, August 17, 
1891. and together they entered Drake University 
where they remained for four years, graduating in the 
Bible course. Bro. D. Cutler and wife (with whom 
they roomed while in college) declare Bro. and Sister 
P. to be a model couple — "walking in all the command- 
ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." 

While -in college Bro. Price preached for the con- 
gregations at Van Wert and North River (near Winter- 
set). Both churches grew in numbers and spirituality. 
While in college — July 1, 1895 — he became pastor of the 
Church of Christ at Shenandoah. He is still pastor at 
Shenandoah and has entered, with bright prospects, 
upon his fourth year. During his work there the house 
of worship has been enlarged and the membership 
doubled. He is now serving his third year as Secre- 
tary of the Southwest District. "My record is yet to be 
made," is what all young preachers like Bro. Price can 
say, and, from the start he has made, we may prophecy 
he will "war a good warfare." 



PERSUASION CONCERNING JESUS- 



EDGAR D. PRICE. 

Paul a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
a prisoner at Rome, is true to his mission as 
a heralder of the Gospel. He calls the chief 
men of his nation together to persuade them 
concerning Jesus. They had heard of Jesus 
and the sect of the Nazarene knowing that it 
was everywhere spoken against; but they 
were ready to hear Paul's testimony concern- 
ing this sect. And from the law and the 
prophets he explained the mission of Jesus, 
identifying him as the Messiah promised in 
their own Scriptures with an abundance of 
testimony and a multitude of witnesses. He 
was all the da}" persuading concerning Jesus 
— an intelligent loving persuasion. Paul ex- 
pounded, testified, persuaded. The same 
method is good today; we should expound — 
set forth — make clear the Gospel. 

We must testify — bear witness to the 
effect the Gospel has had upon our own hearts 
and lives, and not forget to entreat, implore, 
persuade the world to turn to Christ. 
Oh that every Disciple might learn that, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 115 

when "Duties and Doctrines" are made clear 
by abundance of evidence, the loving per- 
suasion is necessary to turn souls from dark- 
ness into light; and that they may be ever 
constrained by the love of Christ to walk in 
the way of truth and righteousness, enjoying 
the peace of God that passes all understand- 
ing, enduring to the end and receiving the 
crown of eternal life. 

Wherever Paul goes he has but one pur- 
pose: "1 am determined not to know any- 
thing among you but Jesus Christ and Him 
crucified." Whatever ability he had he 
turned its whole current into one channel and 
cried, ''God forbid that I should glory save in 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom 
the world if crucified unto me and I unto the 
world" 

1. We should persuade those who believe 
the truth yet have never accepted it. It is 
strange that there are those who profess to 
believe the Bible and yet act as if it was all a 
dream; and it has no more power over them 
than if they disbelieved it. O! if you believe 
that Jesus is the Saviour wh}^ is he not your 
Saviour? 

If they believe that faith, repentance, 
and obedience brings salvation, why do they 
not believe, repent and obey? If they did not 
believe God's word we could understand their 
conduct. Alas! has human nature become 
false to its own instincts of self preservation 



116 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

that it acts in such a suicidal manner? Why 
do you need persuading to a course you ac- 
knowledge is right and reasonable? 

2. Many need persuading that now is 
the accepted time. They' have resolved in 
their own hearts that before long they will 

«accept Christ ; but the unhappy thought is 
that for so many days the resolve has been re- 
tained until it has grown mouldy within 
their hearts. When young in years they 
meant to love and serve the Lord; they are 
much older now but no nearer the kingdom. 

It has only been their intentions and they 
have never acted on the good resolve often- 
times made. 

O! those that are forever resolving, and 
resolving, and yet abide where they are! But 
brethren let us never give up; but let us all 
the day long continue to plead with them. 

3. We need to persuade all disciples 
every where not to grow weary in well doing, 
for in due season we shall reap if we faint 
not. 

All over this world God has children 
with sad and broken hearts who need to be 
encouraged and persuaded to look to Him who 
is able to sympathize, who will grant grace to 
sustain in all trials, and precious promises 
that will be realized 

"When the -waiting time is over, 

When the toils of life are past, 
We shall siog with holy rapture 

Praise the Lord we'er home at last!" 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 117 

He is the Son of God therefore we per- 
suade men to trust him. He loves with a su- 
preme love; shall we not love Him who first 
loved us? 

He died; and by his cross and sufferings 
we should plead with the world to turn to Him. 
Every drop of blood of the great substitute, 
every sigh of the Redeemer is an argument 
with men that they should not neglect his sal- 
vation. 

He is risen and lives again; despise not 
the risen Savior. All power is given unto 
Him in Heaven and earth. He will come 
again and all will stand before His judgment 
seat. A short time will swallow up all in the 
grave and we shall pass into another world 
and answer the summons, "Come to judge- 
ment." Be persuaded concerning Jesus the 
Christ. 

Many are conscious of a wearysome rest- 
lessness; they are unhappy and have forebod- 
ings of an awful future. From the gay and 
gallant, grand and beautiful, many have turn- 
ed away sick at heart — in need of something- 
better and more substantial. There is an 
aching void, a conscious unrest, until one 
rests in the love and promises of Christ. He 
says, ''Come unto me all ye that labor and are 
hea^y laden and I will give you rest." 

Turn not away from the one and only rest 
for your soul. As you love your souls, as you 
desire happiness here, as you desire blessed- 



118 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ness hereafter, Jay hold on eternal life in 
Christ Jesus. If some unconverted soul 
should be a reader of these pages let me say 
to you there is a glorious future before you if 
Christ becomes yours; there is a peace which 
passeth all understanding if you will look to 
Jesus. O distracted, tempest tossed soul! 
there is a haven of rest for you if you enter 
the Ark of Safety — Christ — whose love is hap- 
piness below and heaven above. None who 
accept him are ashamed of their Lord, nor 
ashamed of His gospel though all men should 
cast doubt upon it. Come early to Jesus: for 
they that seek him early shall find him with 
supreme delight. The strongest and young- 
est will some day go to the silent hall of the 
chamber of death. Oh, what a comfort and 
joy it will give you in that hour to have the 
promises of God; and then the endless fellow- 
ship with Jesus means an immeasurable 
weight of glory. Surely if your reason is 
made reasonable you will turn to the loving 
Saviour without further delay. Sad but true 
all persuasion fails in certain cases. Paul 
found it so; and when the chief of Apostles 
was baffled, can we be surprised when we 
sometimes fail? The Savior went forth to 
sow. He was the model sowar; He could not 
have sown better seed; and yet some of his 
seed fell on stony places; some fell by the 
wayside; some fell among thorns; only a por- 
tion of what He sowed fell on good soil. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 119 

We grieve to think of failures. It is sad 
for one to be living without Christ. We pity 
abject poverty, but this is worse than poverty; 
we are sorry for the friendless, but none are 
so forlorn as those who have not Jesus for a 
friend. 

No ignorance so terrible as to be ignor- 
ant of the Savior; no blindness so deplorable as 
blindness towards the Lord Jesufe. To live 
without Christ is not life, but a breathing 
death; such a life is but eating the husks and 
missing the kernel. One has well said, ''If I 
had to die like a dog I should still wish to live 
like a Christian." 

The most persuasive power is a life of 
loving service. Every act in the Saviour's 
ministry was an act of love. We can see how 
fruitful in persuading souls to accept Christ 
has been every sacrifice in His name. 

Then let us to the work persuading not 
only with word of mouth but by deeds of lov- 
ing sacrifice, that, through us and the love of 
Christ, we may constrain many others to 
serve Him. 

"Have you heard the tale of the aloe plant, 

Away in the snnny clime? 
By humble growth of a hundred years 

It reaches its blooming time; 
And then a wondrous bud at its crown 

Bursts into a thousand flowers; 
This floral green, in its beauty seen. 

Is the pride of the tropical bowers; 
But the plant to the flower is a sacrifice; 



120 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

For it blooms but once, and blooming, dies 
Have you further heard of this aloe plant 

That grows in the sunny clime? 
How every one of its thousand flowers, 

As they fall in the blooming time, 
Is an infant tree that fastens its roots 

In the place where they fall to the ground. 
And fast as they fall from the dying stem, 

Grow liveiy and lovely around? 
By dying it lives a thousandfold 

In the young that springs from the death of the o d, 
Have you heard of Him whom the heavens adore, 

And before whom the hosts of them fall? 
How he left his choirs and anthems above 

For earth in its waiiings and woes, 
To suffer the shame and the pain of the cross, 

And die for the life of his foes? 
O, Prince of the noble! O, Saviour divine! 

What sorrow or sacrifice equal to chine? 
Have you heard of this tale, the best one of all — 

The tale of the holy and true? 
He dies! but his life now in untold souls 

Springs up in the world anew! 
His seed prevails and is filUng the earth 

As the stars fill the sky above: 
He taught us to gi\e up the love of life 

For the sake of the life of love; 
His death is our life, his life is our gain — 

The joy for the tear, the peace for the pain." 

Anon. 




M. C. Wilson. 



M. C. WILSON. 

M. C. Wilson was born September 25, 1848, on a 
farm near Blue Licks, Nicholas county, Kentucky, His 
grandfather, Thomas Wilson, was one of the faithful 
pioneer preachers of the '.'Current Reformation", hav- 
ing entered into the movement in its early beginning. 
His father, Samuel Wilson, a very godly man, was for 
many years an Elder in the Stoney Creek Church of 
Christ. The subject of our sketch is therefore a Disci- 
ple of the Disciples. 

He grew to manhood on the farm in the face of ad- 
verse circumstances in much the same way that most of 
our great statesmen, preachers and jurists have strug- 
gled with poverty for a living and an education. He 
imbibed very early in life the desire for a thorough ed- 
ucation, although he had very poor opportunities, at- 
tending school a few winters only a few months at a 
time. But in this way he became very proficient in his 
knowledge of the common branches, especially mathe- 
matics. 

He made a confession of faith in Christ in his sev- 
enteenth year in a meeting which was held by Hardin 
Reynolds and Z. M. Lee with the Stoney Creek church, 
and was baptized at its close, when Z M. Lee said of 
him, "That boy will make a grand man of God. " These 
prophetic words have been fully established by his 
righteous life and successful career as a preacher of the 
Gospel of Christ. 

He came to Iowa, March 18, 1869, and spent the 
next few years on the farm and attending school. He 
was a student for two terms at Central University, Pel- 
la, Iowa; also one term in Prof. McKee's academy at 



124 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Knoxville. He then taught in the public schools. 

He entered Oskaloosa College in September^ 1873, 
and graduated from that old historic institution in June, 
1876, delivered the salutatory address. Having begun 
preaching during his last year in school, he was called 
soon after his graduation to the pastorate of the church 
at Peoria, Iowa. Here he reroained two years, during 
which time on July 30th, 1877, he was married to Miss 
Nannie Belle Saunders. She being a very bright, 
cheerful and devoted Christian, has been a true help- 
meet to him in all his work, always taking an active 
part in all departments of the church. To them has 
been born one son, B'rank B. Wilson, who is a very 
industrious and studious young man, and has already 
given great promise of a bright future. His next pas- 
torate was at Chariton, la., where he preached accepta- 
bly one year, after which, on account of his aged and 
afflicted mother he returned to Kentucky. This change 
was made at a great sacrifice of money and opportuni- 
ties to him, but was entered into cheerfully for the sake 
of his mother. 

He spent twelve years in his native state, preach- 
ing for different churches in Nicholas, Robertson, 
Bracken and Mason counties. Some were aided through 
his excellent leadership in repairing their houses of 
worship, others in building — new and more modern 
buildings, and dedicating them free of debt. He mad( 
and baptized many disciples of Christ. These are mon- 
umental evidences of his popularity among the people 
and his indefatigable efforts to advance the kingdom of 
Christ. 

During his stay in the South, two years were spent 
in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, preaching for 
the churches in Grayson and Greenup, teaching in a 
graded school and doing evangelistic work in the sur- 
rounding country. At Beech Grove, a splendid meet- 
ing meeting resulted in the organization of a church 
with 83 members. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. . 125 

He returned to Iowa in August, 1892, and became 
pastor of the church at St. Anthony, where he remain- 
ed two years, and through the hearty co-operation of 
the brethren, a new and commodious house of worship 
was completed and dedicated free from debt. His next 
field was at Sloan, where in aministry of two years and 
three months the membership was almost doubled, a 
new house erected, and all departments of the church 
left in a prosperous condition. He then went to Cher- 
okee, a new field. Large audiences greeted him, when, 
on account of the hard times, he was compelled to give 
up the woik. He is now pastor of the church at Scran- 
ton, la. In addition to his work as a pastor, he held 
the corresponding secretaryship in the Northwest Dis- 
trict two years and gave the best of satisfaction. 

Churches do not boom under his preaching and 
methods of work, but enjoy what is much more desira- 
ble a gradual growth in knowledge, influence and spir- 
ituality. He is a very faithful student of the Word of 
God, and takes a lively interest in all current questions 
of sociology, politics and religion, being wise and relia- 
ble in council, a splendid organizer and leader. Much 
success has attended his efforts to be an ideal preacher 
and pastor by ''earnestly contending for the faith which 
was once delivered to the saints. " 

In personal appearance he is a man of five feet and 
seven inches in height, brown hair, gray eyes, and 
weighs 170 pounds; and although he is almost fifty years 
old, is well preserved in health and gives promise of 
manv more years of faithful labor in the service of the 
Lord. The pre-eminent thought concerning life with 
him finds expression in these poetic words: 

"We live in deeds, not years; 
In thoughts, not breath: 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart-throbs; . 
He most liv^s who thinks most, 
Feels the noblest, acts the best." 

J. K. Hester, Cincinnati, O. 



CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 



M. C. WILSON. 



^''Let all thtnc/s he done decently and in order. ^^ 1 Cor. 
14:40. 

This text primarily refers to the good 
order thati should prevail in the exercises of 
the church, but it doubtless sustains a logical 
connection with all that preceedes it in this 
letter in which Paul treats largely of church 
discipline. See the case in chapter 5:1-5. 

There is no subject of greater importance 
to the church at the present time than this 
A lack of correct discipline is working untold 
injury in many congregations. Misguided ef- 
forts in this direction by unskillful workmen 
are bringing on trouble that in many places 
not only disturb the peace of the church, but 
bring on conditions that destroy the influence 
and threaten the life of the congregation. 

It seems to me that it is time for us to di- 
rect our attention more fully to the scriptural 
teaching on this subject. 

The whole subject may be comprehended 
under three heads, 

(1) Education, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 12T 

(2) Restoration, 

(3) Withdrawment, 

Or to conceive of it in medical terms we 
tvould have prevention, cure, amputation. 
This view of the subject suggests at once skill 
on the part of those who are to do the 
work; in this we should carefully study to 
show ourselves approved unto God. 

It should be our first aim to have all the 
members of each and every congregation reg- 
ularly and systematically instructed in the 
Holy Scriptures. It is one of the surest safe- 
guards against disease to take into the system 
good healthy food, so that the blood can be 
kept pure and better able to resist the inroads 
that disease will try to make. Prevention is 
better than cure. Medical science shows the 
fact that there is no absolute cure. The 
wound may be patched up, filled in, healed 
over, but the scar still remains. And it may 
some time degenerate or develop into a tumor 
or cancer and give trouble. The lungs that 
have once been attacked by pneumonia are 
ever afterward more liable to disease. The 
bone that is broken may be set and nature dj 
all it can and even make the broken place 
stronger than it was before, but if we could 
see it there would be an unsightly appearance 
that would remind us of the accident. We 
may drive a nail into the heart of a friend and 
wound and lacerate that heart. Then puJl out 
the nail and try hard to heal the wound. Our 



128 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

friend may forgive us and love us dearly, but 
there will linger in our memories a scar of 
sadness, which will come up to view at times 
in spite of all that we can do. The Saviour 
fully understood the matter when he said, 
"Woe unto him by whom the offense cometh." 

Without nutritious food it is impossible to 
build up and sustain the human body. The 
word of God is food for the church — the body 
of Christ. The greatest of all Physicians 
gave the following prescription: "Man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word 
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 
(Matt. 4:4.) Paul, after thoughtfully testing 
this prescription under the most trying scenes 
of human life, said, "And now, brethren, I 
commend you to God, and to the word of his 
grace, which is able to build you up and give 
you an inheritance among all them which are 
sanctified." (Acts 20:32.) 

We go before the world with almost trum- 
pet blasts, saying. Come, let us go back to 
apostolic Christianity ! This seems quite re- 
freshing to those who appear over-zealous in 
our great plea. But it is more refreshing to 
me, and I think more in harmony with our 
cause, to learn the great lesson of how the 
people in apostolic times took their food: for 
we must take it as they did. 

If we refer to Acts 2:42 we find how this 
was done: "And they continued steadfastly 
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 129 

in breaking of bread, and in prayers." They 
did not go off and whisper in the ear of some 
good brother or sister that Peter's work was 
done in Jerusalem and that they had better 
get another preacher; but they did their duty 
with gladness and singleness of heart; and the 
church increased in membership, not when 
they sent and got an evangelist to hold a re- 
vival meeting, but daily. 

The members of the church are not only 
to be instructed in the word of God, but they 
must study it for themselves. This is in- 
cluded in the thought of being instructed. 
You may fill a jug with water until it runs 
over, but how to fill a mind with knowledge 
without the joint co-operation of that mind is 
oae of the yet undiscovered things. And my 
opinion is that the north pole will be discov- 
ered and settled many years before this is 
found out. 

We have preached long and learnedly and 
there still remains an astounding amount of 
ignorance in the church. While this largely 
grows out of the fact that the people have not 
studied the word of God. The preachers are 
responsible to a great degree for not having 
led them into this study. I know some indi- 
viduals, and even whole congregations, that 
it seems impossible to lead anywhere or into 
anything. But generally if the preacher is an 
earnest student and tries hard enough he can 
succeed in creating an interest in study that 



130 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

will widen and deepen until the desired end is 
accomplished. 

Preaching to the church is necessary as a 
means of pious, religious, spiritual education; 
but unless the members of the church can be 
induced to study the Scriptures for them- 
selves the most eloquent and appropriate in- 
struction can accomplish but little. No one 
can become an eminent mathematician or lin- 
guist or naturalist by simply listening to a 
course of lectures. In order to excel in any 
of these departments of knowledge the hearer 
must become a student. Just so m the 
church he must become a co-worker with his 
instructors. He must learn to think soberly, 
righteously and Godly. 

The man who would excel in his knowl- 
edge of the Scriptures and have his soul cast 
into their blessed mould of doctrine must, 
like David, study them for himself by day 
and meditate upon them by night. Every 
church should be a school of Christ; and each 
member thus instructed in the word of life 
should be regularly engaged in the service 
and work of the church. 

In no other way is it possible to educate 
properly their social and spiritual powers, 
for all these must be trained if we fill the 
stature of Christian manhood. Every faculty 
of man's nature was made to be exercised. 
And it is necessary that the life of every dis- 
ciple should be like that of Christ, one of con- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 131 

stant activity. And just here lies the secret 
of educating and training a congregation. It 
consists in having every one of its members 
at work in some way. It is a great mistake 
to suppose that the preacher can do all the 
work. It does not matter by whom the mis- 
take is made, whether by the preacher or the 
congregation, the evil effects are the same. 
He is not the ablest general who does most of 
the fighting himself, but who so uses and 
manages his armyas to bring out the strength, 
energy and resources of all the men under his 
command. The first duty of the church is to 
see that all the members are engaged in some 
work which they are able to do. And just as 
soon as a person becomes a member he should 
be put to work. The duty of the soldier is 
not done when he has enlisted; but he must be 
present at roll call, and drill, and must be 
faithful in all the duties that are to prepare 
him for the field of combat; when the battle is 
on he must be in his place and stand firm 
against the foe. 

I think we have lost more by neglecting 
this one thing than in any other way. I know- 
congregations that are in a state of anarchy 
for no other reason than that their members 
were not put to work when they entered the 
church. They are undeveloped and it seems 
impossible to do anything with them. 

If this was carried out fully it would be 
the sole aim and end of all church discipline. 



132 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

It would prevent spiritual disease and no 
occasion would arise for cure or amputation. 

But as this is very generally and sadly 
neglected we find it necessary to go further 
and try what comes under the head of cure or 
restoration. 

The church should be kept in a pure and 
healthy condition; that is, comparatively so. 
Absolute perfection can not be expected in 
the church militant. We hope to reach it in 
the church triumphant. Some cheat will be 
found among the wheat, but that is no reason 
why briers and thistles should grow there 
undisturbed. 

We find the law of offenses by a brother 
against a brother laid down in Matt. 18:15-17: 
''Moreover if thy brother shall trespass 
against thee, go and tell him his fault between 
thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou 
hast gained thj- brother. But if he will not 
hear thee, then take with thee one or two 
more, that in the mouth of two or three wit- 
nesses every word may be established. And 
if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto 
the church: but if he neglect to hear the 
church, let him be unto thee as an heathen 
man and a publican." The terms of this law 
are very plain: Let the offended party go and 
tell the one who has trespassed against him 
his fault; if they agree to what is right and 
proper in the matter no further proceedings 
are necessary; the case is ended and good 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 133 

feeling is restored. This law is far superior 
to the practice of some iDdividuals who have 
not the fortitude to tell a brother face to face 
of his wrongdoing, but go round in the com- 
munity telling it to everybody else; or that 
other practice of many brethren who go round 
pouting and acting offlsh with the preacher, 
and the church, and every one else except the 
devil, because some brother has offended 
them. They remind me of the poor unfortu- 
nate man who kept his feelings spread out in 
all directions for three hundred yards, so that 
he could not go out from home without having 
them stepped on. The people in the commu- 
nity where this man lived were so mean that 
they were glad when he died. 

But when we have told our brother his 
fault, and we cannot agree as to what is right, 
then we must take one or two others, and go 
to him and try to make reconciliation. In 
this way we can often succeed: for the breth- 
ren we have taken with us, while they are 
witnesses, may also be materially helpful to 
both parties. 

If we fail in this second effort then we are 
to report the matter to the church; then it 
becomes the duty of the church to deal with 
the case. The church in handling all cases of 
wrongdoing should be governed by the word 
of God. It is the duty of the church to deal 
properly with the weak and erring. "Breth- 
ren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which 



134 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit 
of meekness ; considering thyself lest thou 
also be tempted." (Gal. 6:1.) '' Wherefore 
lift up the hands that hang down and the 
feeble knees and make straight paths for your 
feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of 
the way, but let it rather be healed." (Heb. 
12:12.) "Brethren, if any of you do err from 
the truth, and one convert him, let him know 
that he which converteth the sinner from the 
error of his way, shall save a soul from death 
and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 
5:19-20.) 

To delay in our efforts at restoration is 
dangerous. To successfully handle disease 
the physician must begin in good time, before 
the disease has gotten such a strong hold that 
it has destroyed the vitality to that extent 
that it will be impossible to cure the patient. 
It is usually easy to stop wrongdoing in its 
beginning. A kind word, a gentle admonition 
may do the work where it will be very hard to 
accomplish by any means after the habit has 
become fixed. The church should not cease 
its efforts to restore until all available means 
have been tried and there is no longer any 
hope of success. 

Then, as in the case mentioned in 1 Cor. 
5:1-5, the church must have recourse to with- 
drawment or amputation. This is one of the 
saddest duties of the church and should 
always be done in the most solemn manner. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 135 

If I have blood poison in my finger and find 
that I must have it amputated, the obJ3Ct of 
that operation will be to save life, lest the 
virus spread through my entire body and 
death result. But if I had to have that oper- 
ation performed I certainly would be very 
careful that no mistake was made. I would 
be very foolish to go at my finger with a 
meat-ax and haggle it off simply because it 
was sore. In that case I would be very apb to 
get up a case of blood poison if it did not 
already exist, especially if the weather was 
warm. It generally gets quite warm if the 
church makes a mistake in this matter. 

When the church comes to this solemn 
duty of severing its connection with one of its 
members it should use its best wisdom, and 
be sure that it is done in the right way. I 
never took any delight in reading the report 
of any man who was so unfortunate as to be 
sent to state's prison for twenty years; nei- 
ther do I believe that the words of Paul, 
though necessary, thrilled him with delight: 
'*In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when 
ye are gathered together, and my spirit with 
the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver 
such an one unto Satan for the destruction of 
the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the 
day of the Lord Jesus." (1 Cor. 5:4-5.) "Now 
I command you, brethren, in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw your- 
selves from every brother that walketh dis- 



136 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

orderly and not after the tradition which is 
received of us." (2 Thes. 3:6.) 

It was so under the law (which was a 
shadow of good things to come) every leprous 
and unclean person had to be removed out of 
camp. It is not a matter of choice, or privi- 
lege, but an imperative duty, that those who 
persistently and obstinately transgress the 
laws of Christ be delivered to Satan for the 
destruction of the desires of the flesh that 
have led them into sin, that they ma}^ be saved 
by being shown their error and wickedness. 
The object of all church discipline should be 
to save. If not the individual (because it may 
be impossible in some cases) let it save the 
church. Leaven will work, whether it is good 
or bad. If bad the longer it works the more 
harm it will do. 

We take great pleasure in telling of our 
well disciplined armies as they go forth in 
what we think is the cause of humanit}^ ; but 
the best army of all is a well trained church 
drilled for the blaster's work, and going for- 
ward under the banner of Christ, in the inter- 
est of humanity in the truest and highest 
sense, for the salvation and redemption of 
mankind. 

Such a church will be an honor and a bless- 
ing to itself, a blessing to the communitv and 
to the world at large, and an honor to Christ 
and his cause. Such a congregation can sing 
trul}^, '•! love thy kingdom Lord." 




J. A. Bennett. 



], A. BENNETT, 

James Alonzo Bennett was born in Mason county, 
Illinois, June 30, 1870. His father and mother were 
Christians and his step-mother a Baptist. 

When thirteen years of age he united with the Bap- 
tist church, he had a "miraculous conversion", after 
weeks of mental suffering; but upon studying the scrip- 
tures more thoroughly he discovered that his Baptist 
conversion was but a hallucination; and found that con- 
version was a change of the body, soul and spirit of a 
person which was produced by hearing, believing and 
obeying the teaching of Jesus the Christ and the Apos- 
tles. So in accordance therewith he became a member 
of the Church of Christ, having learned the way of the 
Lord more perfectly, like ApoUos of old. 

Al the age of seventeen years, he began his work 
as a preacher of the gospel, his first preaching being at 
Griggsville, Illinois. Realizing that his education was 
not sufficient for the work in which he was engaged, he 
in 1890 entered Eureka College, matriculating as a 
classical student. While there he also concluded that 
every preacher of the gospel should be the husband of 
one wife. He met with the woman that won his heart- 
Miss Effie Omer — and he soon won both her heart and 
her hand; and consequently, August 17, 1892, they were 
mari.'ied. She has been a helpmeet tOjhim in deed and 
in truth, giving him great assistance in^his labors for 
the Lord, frequently filling the pulpit forjhim while he 
was preaching elsewhere. They have one child, born 



140 DOCTRIKE AISD LIFE 

July 9, 1893, a daughter. At the close of a large and 
successful meeting at Farragut, la., he was called from 
college life to be pastor. He reluctantly accepted be- 
cause of the urgent appeal for help and the scarcity of 
reapers. 

He entered this field of labor August, 1894, remain- 
ing there one year. His audiences constantly increas- 
ing, and his success almost unparalelled. He is next 
found at Pleasantville; next at Prairie Cify, having in 
the mean time been preachin^g at mission points and 
meeting with great success. 

The writer met with Brother Bennett at Oskaloosa, 
at the State Convention of the Churches of Christ, in 
Iowa, 1897. Secured his services for a meeting at 
Prairie Creek, to begin with the dedication of the new 
church, which occured October 10, 1897. by Bro. A. M. 
Haggard State Secretary. Bro. Bennett was on hand 
as he had promised. The building was erowded dur- 
ing the dedication, and was kept in that condition for 
three weeks, by Bro. Bennett. During his meeting he 
was ably assisted by Bro. M, C. Hutchinson as singer. 
This was the greatest, grandest and most successful 
meeting ever held in that staid, and good Scotch com- 
munity, there being 123 added to the church; 63 of them 
being yuong men, who will ever rise to say, "blessed 
be J. A. Bennett forevermore." Bro. Bennett held 
another meeting lor me of twelve days in January, 1S8S, 
at Urbana, meeting with great success, 36 being added 
to the church. On the first Lord 'sday in May, he and 
Bro. Cass Houser, singer, with your humble servant 
acting as pastor, began a meeting at Ravens wood, W. 
Virginia, which was a most remarkable meeting. Every 
thing seemed to be against us; the people greatly pre- 
judiced against the church of Christ; sectarianism 
rampant; illicit selling of liquors abounding, yet this 
metting was made a great success. Through the untir- 
ing efforts of Bro. Bennett, there were 26 added. Money 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 141 

raised to secure a pastor (which has since been done) 
and the church placed on a .better footing, sectarianism 
made ashamed of itself. 

Bro. Bennett has since that held a successful ser- 
ies of meetings with the churches at Greene and Marble 
Rock, where he is at the present, doing pastoral work, 
while resting from evangelistical labor. He is a rapid 
energetic talker, an untiring worker, a workman that 
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word. 
He is a leader in song, and causes the "dry bones of a 
dying or dead church, soon to be clothed by awaking 
them to righteousness. Milton Wells. 



UNMISTAKABLE PROOF- 



J. A. BENNETT. 



"j5j/ this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if 
ye have love one for another. ^^ John 13:35. 

Whenever the world comes face to face 
with unselfish love, it has to stop and think. 
It would seem as though all were working for 
self in this world, and a disinterested act of 
kindness is something the carnal mind cannot 
explain ; for it knows that it is human nature 
for the strong to take advantage of the weak. 
The carnal mind, being a worker for hire, 
cannot understand the cheerful obedience and 
uncomplaining service of a son of God. If 
you have to shout to tell people that 3^ou are 
religious, there are many who will never find 
it out. Little deeds and acts of kindness are 
appreciated by the Most High as we]l as by 
the lowly. 

Find a man whom men love, and you will 
find a man who has first loved men. We see 
this nature in Christ himself. He loved all . 
men. The most beautiful scripture to my 
mind is this: "For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten son, that who- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 143 

sover believeth in him, should not perish but 
have everlasting life. For God sent not his 
son into the world to condemn the world, but 
that the world through him might be saved." 
John 3:16-17. 

In this language, we can distiogush the 
loving nature of the Father — God. No mat- 
ter what our rights and accomplishments may 
be, they cannot help us any in turning a sin- 
ner to Christ, unless he can see the love of 
the Master is burning in our hearts. A hun- 
dred ways of doing good are open to each of 
us, which we could see if we would only look 
for them. It is said that a lady in New York 
living in a beautiful suburban home, with less 
money than she needed to supply her craving 
for lovely objects about her, having some 
leisure moments out of the many occupied 
oneS; took up some stray worsted one day and 
knitted from it a pair of wristlets, and in her 
shopping and calling expeditions in the city, 
carried one or more each time, to give to any 
person who seemed cold and in need of them. 
She did not stop to think that she might be 
refused. She only thought that the wristlets 
might do good. It was in the winter of 1894 
that one day she met a newsboy jumping 
around to keep warm ; she went up to him, 
saying with confidence, "Will you put these 
on your wrists? They will warm you." His 
boyish face brightened; he struck a proud atti- 
tude, as of one about to be comfortable and said. 



144 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

"Why — thank you!" A little further on a thiD 
pale woman was walking along- in the crowd 
of well dressed ladies, hardly daring to look 
at them, perhaps wishing she had some furs 
too, she was so cold. 

"Will you put on these olive green wrist- 
lets they will warm you," said the artist. 
"Oh, lady, are they for me?" said the woman, 
her face brightening with pleasure. 

Another day the artist was coming out of 
a big shop, having gone all day without an 
object for a picture, when she saw looking in- 
to the shop window a big boy carrying a baby 
girl, and beside him a young brother cough- 
ing and shaking with cold. The artist leaned 
over the sick child and said, "Put on these 
nice red wristlets ; if your little wrists are 
warm your body will be so." The big boy 
put the baby down, and with tenderness for 
the sick child drew the wristlets over the 
slim wrists, and thanked the lady with tears 
in his voice. 

So with each of us we can scatter many a 
ray of sunshine over the pathway of those of 
sorrow and distress. You have won the 
love of others, when you prove that you love 
them. Human love may change. The friend- 
ship of years may grow cold and fade 2iWSij, 
The gentleness of last summer has turned to 
severity. But God's love is never like this; 
it is eternal. Variable may be our experience, 
but there is no variableness in His love. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 145 

Changes may come to our lives ; our conscious- 
ness of His love may fade out, but the love 
clings forever. "For the mountains shall 
depart^ and hills be removed; but my kind- 
ness shall not depart from thee, neither shall 
the covenant of my peace be removed, saith 
the Lord that hath mercy on thee." 

There is never a moment in the life of a 
true Christian, from the heart of which a 
message may not instantly be sent up to God, 
and back to which help may not instantly 
come. God is not off in some remote place; 
He is not dway at the top of some long, steep 
life-ladder, looking down upon us in serene 
calm, but He is near us, and with us, and we 
can hold communion with Him. There is no 
disinterested love that does not come from 
God, and the world knows it. 

Don't argue with infidelity, for it is like 
the quicksand ; the harder you struggle to get 
out the deeper in you go. Don't always de- 
pend on yourself for your power to present 
truth clearly; but pray that God's love may 
be kept burning in your heart and that the 
Holy Spirit may lead and guide you into all 
truth. Let sinners be convinced that there is 
such a thing as Christian love, and they will 
be convinced of sin. Every child of God 
ought to be a window through which some- 
body could get a glimpse of heaven. In my 
judgment there is but one way in which a 
church difficulty can be settled, or the devil's 



146 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

power be broken, and that is to get God's 
people to love one another. I think the fol- 
lowing story told by Miss Jane Addams, of 
Hull House, Chicago, illustrates the nature of 
some church members: 

Soon after the opening of Hull House, the 
workers there were much annoyed by a mis- 
chievous boy of the neighborhood, who seemed 
to delight in doing everything he could to 
disturb them. When meetings were being 
held in the house he would throw stones at 
the door, beat tattoos on the window panes, 
and keep the bell ringing constantly. Several 
of the workers urged Miss Addams to call on 
a policeman to suppress the boy, but she 
steadfastly refused. 

"I mean to make a friend of that boy, not 
an enemy," was her reply. "If I call a police- 
man and have him arrested, I shall throw 
away my chance of helping him." 

For some time longer the disturbance 
was continued. The men- workers at the Hull 
House took turns watching at the front door, 
so that the meetings should be annoyed as 
little as possible. Ao-ain and again Miss Ad- 
dams was urged to have a policeman put a 
stop to the nuisance, but every such plea was 
unavailing. Whenever she had an opportu- 
nity she spoke kindly to the lad, showed her 
interest in him, and invited him to attend the 
boys' meetings that were being held at the 
house. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 147 

By slow degrees this course of treatment 
had its effect. After a time they ceased to be 
annoyed as they had been in the past, and 
later still the boy made his appearance at one 
of the meetings. From that time it was easy 
to deal with him. To-day Miss Addams has 
no more devoted friend than the boy who once 
threw stones at Hull House. 

And so it is with the unruly church mem- 
ber. As soon as the evangelist or pastor 
comes to the town, he begins to throw stones 
of discontentment, selfishness and hatred. 
There is only one way to manage him, and 
that is by patience and forbearance. Occa- 
sionally you see a man here or there who 
thinks he knows the remedy, but on investi- 
gdtioQ we find tbat it is only his opinion; and 
in church matters one man's opinion is just 
as good as another's. But we, who claim the 
Bible as our guide, must not rest upon men's 
opinions, but must settle difficulties by he 
infallible Word of God. To do otherwise is to 
be sectarian, subscribing to man's opinions. 
Christ has given us the test of Christian fel- 
lowship in our text, "By this shall all men 
know that ye are my disciples if ye have love 
one toward another." 

" How little it costs, if we give it a thought, 
To make happy some heart each day! 

Just one kind word, or a tender smile, 
As we go on our daily way: 

Perchance a look will suffice to clear 



148 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

The cloud from a neighbor's face, 
And the press of a hand-in sympathy 
A sorrowful tear efface. 

One walks in sunlight; another goes 

All wearily in the shade; 
One treads a path that is clear and smooth, 

Another must pray for aid. 
It costs so little! I wonder why 

We give it so little thought; 
A smile — kind words — a glance — a touch! 

What magic with them is wrought! " 




B. S. Denny. 



B, S, DENNY. 

Barton Stone Denny was born near Salem, Wash- 
ington county, Indiana, Feb. 2, 1855. His parents, 
Thomas G. and Jane (Hobbs) Denny were pioneers in 
southern Indiana early in the century, and were 
among the first to identify themselves with the restor- 
ation movement among the disciples, being baptized by 
Barton W. Stone in 1822. His father was an eider in 
the church for over 50 years. His mother's people 
have been prominent in the councils of the Friends' 
Church, 

Soon after the close of the war the family moved 
westward and settled on a farm in Holt county, Mis- 
souri. Here the subject of our sketch spent his youth 
and early manhood, and was married February 29, 1880? 
to Mary E. Massie. In October of the same year they 
both confessed their Savior and were baptized. Bro, 
Denny's birth from the watery grave was a live one. 
He was soon elected superintendent of the Sunday- 
school and an elder in the congregation at Maitland, Mo. 

Being an excellent singer and a natural leader of 
men, he was continually urged by his friends to devote 
his life and talents to the ministry. Yielding at length 
to their advice he left the farm and entered Drake Uni- 
versity the winter term of 1888-9, finishing the English 
Bible course in June, 1892, The genuineness of his 
call to the ministry was soon demonstrated by his suc- 
cess as a student-pastor while carrying on his college 
work. March 3, 1889, he preached his first sermon at 
Carlisle, la. After preaching a few sermons at Percy 
and Chesterfield, he took his first charge at Last 
Chance, in Clark county, November 27, 1889, preaching 
every four weeks. In February, 1890, he was called to 
Lacona for half time, and July 15, to Woodburn for the 
remainder of his time. 



152 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

He continued to serve these three congregations 
till the end of his college course, when, July 1, 1892, 
the State Missionary Board sent him to Hampton where 
there was a little band of twenty-three discouraged 
disciples with $2,100 pledged toward buildinga church. 
The success and the work at Hampton under his pas- 
torate is among the most marvelous in the history of the 
state. The little band has grown to a great congrega- 
tion of 430 members, besides a country congregation of 
80 members with a $2,000 house. The home congrega 
ion has a beautiful temple of worship and a good home 
for the pastor, aggregating $12,000 in value. He began 
his seventh year as pastor, July 1, and his seventh 
year as corresponding secretary of the Northeast Dis- 
trict, His great success is not due to any phenominal 
gift in some particular direction. He seems to possess 
in happy combination all the qualities which make the 
successful preacher and pastor. His pulpit work is 
characterized by freshand vigorous thought and search- 
ing directness. He is deeply spiritual, but free from 
mannerisms peculiar to the clergy, and few persons get 
so close to the hearts and life of people. Perhaps no 
preacher in the state has been so successful in school- 
house mission work. Being both sieger and preacher, 
be is especially fitted for this work and his genial, 
wholesouled qualities make him a favorite with young 
and old, whether church member or not. His sound 
business judgement and rare tact commend him to bus- 
iness men. 

Brother Denny is happy in the possession of a no 
ble wife who is endowed with rare gifts for the varied 
duties of the pastor's wife and is unselfish in her devo- 
tion to her husband and the cause of Christ. She is the 
C. W. B. M. Secretary for the Northeast District. 
Three bright children bless their home: Bertha, aged 
16; Collins, aged 11, both members of the church, and 
Pearl, aged 2. 



"THE BATTLE OF LIFE" 

B. S. DENNY. 

My text for this discourse will be found 
in Revelation the second chapter and the lat- 
ter clause of the seventh verse, which reads 
as follows: "To him that overeometh will I 
give to eat of the tree of life which is in the 
midst of the paradise of God." This promise 
closed the first letter of the Apocalypse to the 
seven church in Asia. 

The language indicates that the Savior an- 
ticipated, for his disciples, a life of conflict, 
and this promise is given by way of encour- 
agement to the faithful. We are too apt to an- 
ticipate the victory without counting the cost, 
and because of this, many hearts grow faint 
at sight of the first danger, and fail in the 
first engagement with the enemy. It is the 
conflict and not the victory that I shall speak 
of in this discourse. 

On patriotic occasions orators grow elo- 
quent and multitudes shout for joy when the 
speakers tell of the brilliant victories of our 
army and navy, and the splendid deeds of he- 
roism of our men, even at a fearful cost of 



154 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

life. Let us pause a moment in our rejoicing 
and we will hear a wail of sadness from the 
widow and orphan. While victory is sweet to 
us it fills them with unspeakable sorrow. 
While our hearts are bounding, their hearts 
are breaking. 

We are thus reminded that yictory only 
comes through conflict in the affairs of this 
world; and we have also learned that it is none 
the less true in the Christian life. The church 
militant is the pillar and ground of the truth ; 
and as truth asks too much and requires too 
much to be popular in a wicked world, it is 
well for us to remember that it has not been 
supported without an effort. The church is 
the saints of God contending for the right, 
and, against the wrong and we become sold- 
iers the moment that we become Christians. 
We cannot escape the issue; the world is the 
battle field, the prize is the soul, and the 
Christian is the one who obligates himself to 
defend the prize. The forces engaged are 
Satan and the hosts of evil on the one side and 
Christ and they who wear his name on the 
other side. There can be no compromise. 
They are correlatives and one or the other 
must be supreme. If you do not know what 
it is to battle against sin, I fear that you are 
not a Christian. 

The conflict is certainly on. In the world 
at large we find the enemy entrenched on 
every hand contesting every inch of the way 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 155 

His hydra-head is seen in the home, in the so- 
cial circle, in business circles, in government, 
municipal, state and national. We not only 
find this enemy of the soul in the world at 
large but we find him in each bosom; in both 
saint and sinner making his attack through 
the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, leav- 
many ruined lives who have fallen in the 
strife. When we speak of life as a battle, 
there rises up before our minds opposing arm- 
ies, armed and equipped for battle. Mark the 
difference in the weapons used: 

One of Satan's most effective weapons is 
deceit. He will say that there is no God ; that 
the story of Jesus is a myth; that he never 
rose from the dead, and that his followers are 
deceived. He will tell you that pleasure is 
the greatest good; and, in order to keep you 
from God's house and from becoming attached 
to his service, he has invented so many places 
and ways of entertainment that the only won- 
der is that the people have any time left for 
the Lord's service. His sole object is to so 
intoxicate the people with a desire for amuse- 
ment that they will forget God. In this way 
multitudes are led away from the Lord, 

Occasionally he creeps inside the pale of 
the church and the preacher, choir or congre- 
gation, (one or all) become infected with the 
malady. A worldly ambition fills their hearts 
and in their desire to have a respectable 
church, and a congenial membership they lose 



156 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

sight of the masses largely, and the common 
people who "heard the Savior gladly," are left 
to grope in darkness. They are more anxious 
to save their church than to save souls ; to be 
respectable than Christ-like. The multiplic- 
ity of civic societies is the legitimate fruit of 
such a church-spirit. Let us not be ashamed 
of the gospel of Christ for to preach it in its 
simplicity is to preach itwith power. 

Again, he will tell you that Christianity 
is all right but that there is plenty of time; 
that you are too young to assume such bind- 
ing obligations; and thus he induces you to de- 
lay becoming Christians until the habits of 
life are firmly fixed and you are weighed down 
with age and no more look into the future with 
the hopefulness of youth. He will then tell 
you that it is too late; that you cannot break 
off from your habits and will be of no service 
to the church anyhow. Again, you heed and 
are forver lost. Sometimes the unsuspecting 
are facinated with splendor and are led into 
danger unawares, only to see the hand-writ- 
ing on the wall when it is too late. 

It may be the high license saloon that is 
permitted to wreck homes, to rob and dis- 
grace innocent women and children and to 
send the father, husband, or son to hell, in 
order that one one man may be enriched and 
the city treasury replenished by a few hun- 
dred dollars of blood money. It may be the 
gambling-hall or the ball-room, where the 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 157 

young man, greeted with enchanting music, 
bewildering splendor, and surrounded by be- 
witching maidens with fairy-like step, is soon 
led to have a visionary view of life and to have 
an insatiable desire for pleasure and luxury 
that can only be secured by the wealthy. He 
is thus unfitted for the useful pursuits of life, 
and often ends a miserable existance in dis- 
grace. 

Unable to deceive, or to fascinate with 
splendor, Satan meets his victims in open 
combat, "Seeking whom he may devour." He 
will attack you through the lust of the flesh, 
and will seek to destroy your purity of char- 
acter, and send you through life a blackened 
and ruined soul forever. He will attack your 
pride, and with his lies, he will make you dis- 
satisfied and unhapp}^ in the work that you 
are best fitted to do. 

He will endeavor to make you unhappy in 
your home, and with your friends, and will 
surround you with associates from whom you 
will form habits that will fasten to you with 
a grip that will drag you to your doom be- 
yond the hope of redemption. He seduced 
the church and clothed its humble preachers 
with priestly robes and placed them on high 
places possessed with worldly pomp and pow- 
er; He then divided those who loved the Lord 
into warring factions in order to divert their 
attention from his work ; He knew that if he 
could succeed in dividing his enemy that it 



158 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

would so nearly take all of their time to save 
their individual churches that they would have 
but little time to save souls. 

If he finds a congregation that is prosper- 
ous and happy, he will endeavor to cast a fire- 
brand of contention within its peaceful folds. 
These and many other weapons this arch ene- 
my of the soul hurls at the children of God. 
We meet him in the world at large and in the 
church, and in the individual life. He is the 
same enemy that sowed the tares in the wheat 
and he is still abroad in the land engaged in 
the same nefarious business. 

Do not despise his power, do not think 
that you can meet him alone, because he is as 
wise as the arch-angel, as cunning as a fiend, 
and has had six thousand years of experience. 
It is said that where the fear is equal to the 
danger we are safe. There is great danger, 
beware! 

Having thus viewed the weapons used by 
our adversary, let us turn from the dismal 
picture for a moment and look to Him "who is 
able to keep us from falling and to present us 
faultless before the presence of his glory," 
and we will see that our wall of defense is 
very strong, and our weapons such, that vic- 
tory is sure. We have learned that Satan 
arms his followers with lies; Let us also learn 
that the Christians are armed with truth. We 
claim for the Captain of our salvation that he 
is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 159 

On the truth of this claim the hope of Chris- 
taiEitj rests, and over the Savior's tomb 
the battle rages. Christians eager for the 
fray, boldy affirm that the claims are well es- 
tablished by undisputabie witnesses, and by 
the Savior's own words, and works, and defy 
the enemy to meet in open combat and suc- 
cessfully disprove their claims. Let us hear 
the testimony of some of the witnesses: 

At His conception the angel's voice broke 
the stillness of four centuries to make it 
known; at his lowly birth, amidst the hum- 
blest surroundings, and while the passer-by 
would have but pittied his hard lot, an angel 
choir came and sang his first lullaby and called 
him king; the wise men from the far East 
came with their offerings and placing their 
royal tributes at his little feet, returned to 
their far away home rejoicing that they had 
found the new-born king of the Jews and Sa- 
vior of the world. What a strange errand 
this, and what glorious news to bear to the 
children of their native land! 

At his baptism the heavens opened, and 
the spirit of God, like a dove, descended upon 
him, and lo! a voice from heaven saying. This 
is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. 
After his forty days' fast and temptation in 
the wilderness, the angel of God ministered 
unto him and he came forth strengthened to 
begin his life work. Demons that possessed 
and terrified men acknowledged him to be the 



160 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Son of God. Officers who were sent for his 
arrest, awed by his presence, returned with- 
out him, declaring that "never man spake like 
that man." On the mount of transfiguration, 
and in the presence of three chosen disciples, 
he is transformed, and, while surrounded by 
a halo of glory, the greatest lawgiver, the 
greatest prophet, and God the Father, ac- 
knowledge him to be the Son of God and the 
Savior of the worJd. 

He is finally arrested and placed on trial 
for his life; and when condemned to die, and 
brought forward for sentence, the Roman 
governor said, "I find no fault in him." At 
nis death the sun veiled his face as if from 
shame; and the earth did quake and the rocks 
were rent, as though all nature was in codvuI- 
sions of grief. "The graves were opened, 
and many bodies of the saints which slept 
arose, and came out of the graves, after his 
resurrection, and appeared unto many." The 
centurion and they that were watching Jesus 
said, "Truly this was the Son of God." 

So much for the testimony. Let us now 
consider some of his words and works. 

Under nis majestic tread the waters be- 
came as the solid rock. At his word the 
shackles of death are broken and dead bodies 
are presented alive to their friends. At his 
bidding the lepers are healed, the deaf hear 
the blind see and the lame leap as the hart. 

On historic Galilee is a fisherman's boat. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 161 

In the rear end of the boat, worn and exhaust- 
ed from the busy day's work, is Jesus seeking 
rest in slumber. The disciples were eui^aged 
in managing the boat and discussiug the les- 
sons that the Savior had taught them that day 
ni parables. Wnile thus engaged a storm 
suddenly breaks upon them in all of its fury; 
the peaceful blue waters are now lashed into 
spray; higher and higher the waves reach, 
lifted up by the roaring tempest. The ship 
is filling with water, it is sinking, arid the 
crew is wild with terror. In their extremity 
they think of the sleeping Savior. He is 
aroused from his slumber; and, while the 
crew is blinded by the spray from the high- 
reaching waves, He lifts up his voice and 
rebukes the wind, and said unto the sea, 
''Peace; be still," and immediately the winds 
ceased and the waves quietly took their place. 

From the depth of their astonishment 
the disciples exclaimed, "What manner of 
man is this that even the wind and the waves 
obey him." "Many other signs truly did 
Jesus, but these are written that ye might 
believe that Jesus is the Chriat the son of 
God, and that believing ye might have life 
through his name." We cannot doubt our 
leader; to examine his claims is to admit that 
they are true. 

Mark the difference in motives used: 
while Satan uses temptations, Jesus uses mo- 
tives and hopes to animate the soul. In his 



162 DOCTRINa AND LIFE 

services the unfortunates have visions of be 
ter days; hearts are purified; virtue is hon- 
ored; homes are made happy; drunkard's 
shackles are broken; souls are redeeme d and 
ultimately saved to a glorious immortality. 
The humblest soul, however burdened, can 
look up and find in him a friend: He will be 
to the penitent outcast a refuge; to the sick a 
physician; to the aged and infirm a staff; and 
to all wanderers of life's sea a shelter in the 
time of storm. We are also led to believe 
that a kind of providence directs the affairs 
of God's people. How can we account for the 
use and developments of our country, the 
marvelous growth of our movement, and 
many circumstances in our own personal life 
but through the providence of God. 

Let us not insist too much upon walking 
by sight but let us be content to walk by 
faith and learn to trust him who throws 
round-a-bout us a kind providence. The 
Psalmist said, "I have been young and now 
am old; yet have I not seen the righteous for- 
saken, nor his seed begging bread." 

It seems to me that this assurance should 
quiet our every fear. 

Note the instruments used in our behalf. 
God has ordained that the angles should be 
ministering spirits to labor in behalf of those 
who are about to inherit salvation, as the fol- 
lowing will indicate: The angel of the Lord 
strengthened Christ in the garden; the angel 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 163 

watched the grave and announced his resur- 
rection; angels comforted the disciples at the 
ascension and promised the Savior's return; 
the angel released Peter from prison, directed 
Philip to the Eunuch, and Peter to Cornelius, 
that they might make known the way of salva- 
tion to men who loved God and sought to know 
his wilL In the help thus given, the dignity 
of the Gospel was maintained and the preacher 
was only aided in his work as an ambassador 
of Christ. Ma}^ they not now be working to 
frustrate the wiles and devices of Satan? to 
aid providentially in bringing men to repent- 
ance? to take care of the living and to comfort 
the dying saints and to bear their spirits 
home to God? They are all sent forth to min- 
ister in some way, directly or indirectly, in 
the work of redeeming man. 

Brick Pomeroy said in his "Saturday 
Night": 

'* Many a dying child 

Has divided its last kiss, 

One-half to the weeping mother 

Who gave it birth, 

The other half 

To the waiting angel 

Who bore it home." 
How touchingly true to our faith and life 
this is. 

God has also ordained that man should be 
His agent in carrying out the work of redeem- 
ing the world, and for this purpose He has 
commanded us to "go into all the world and 



164 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

preach the Gospel to every creature; he that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and 
he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." 
He has thus given definite instructions in 
regard to our duty, and positive assurance as 
to the outcome. We also have Sunday-school 
teachers who gather the children from the 
homes, the streets and the byways to tell 
them of the wiles of Satan, the deceitf ulness 
of sin, and to point them to a loving Savior 
who alone can lead them through life safely. 

Dearly beloved, let me once more com- 
mend to you the Captain of our salvation. He 
not only equipped his followers for battle but 
He entered Satan's dominion and fought for- 
ever the battle for our beloved dead, came out 
a mighty conqueror, and now stands at the 
right hand of the Father with the crow^ns of 
empires upon his brow, and the keys of hell 
aad death swinging at his girdle, bidding us 
follow and finish the fight. He knows our 
every struggle, He sympathizes with us in 
every sorrow, and He will heal all of our woes. 
With all of these weapons at our command^ 
with all of these hopes to animate the soul, 
and under such a leader, we cannot fail. Let 
us press on and be faithful unto death, and it 
will be given to us to eat of the tree of life 
which is in the paradise of God. 




Geo. F. Devol. 



GEO, E DEVOL. 

He was born in Prairie Creek, Ind., Aug. 11, 1858, 
and grew to manhood in his native state. He was edu- 
cated in the High School at Middletown, also received 
a diploma at saw-milling, brick-making and carpenter 
work. 

He came to Iowa May 16, 1882, and made his home 
in Marshalltown where he worked at the carpenter 
trade three years. Here he was married to Ida May 
Akers, March 5, 1885. He began preaching in April, 
1885, and has been in the regular ministry of the church 
of Christ ever since. He has held meetings in Indi- 
ana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Has or- 
ganized nine churches in Iowa and built (doing part of 
the carpenter work himself) s^ven houses of worship in 
this state and one in Nebraska. He has held several 
meetings in which there were more than one hundred 
accessions; he was State Chaplain of the Sons of Vete 
rans in Iowa two years; edited the Iowa Evangelist two 
years, and is now in the field as evangelist with head- 
quarters at Des Moines. We have known him for many 
years. He is a logical reasoner, clear thinker, strong 
writer, a rapid speaker who holds, enlightens and 
moves his audience. He is in demand as a temperance 
advocate; he has debated with a noted infidel success- 
fully; he has delivered some fi"rst-class lectures; but 
he loves the gospel and is pleased to be known as a 
preacher who is an humble instrument in God's hand 
to win souls to Christ and hold them loyal to duty. We 
pray God for more laborers such as he is to enter into 
the harvest. 



THE CHURCH AND THE SALOON. 



GEO. F. DEVOL. 

^'Upon this 7'ock I will build my church; and the gates of 
Hades shall not prevail against it."" JESUS. 

The Church of Christ is a divine institu- 
tion given among men for the salvation of the 
race. Man's final and eternal redemption de- 
pends on Christ through the ministration of 
the church. All great enterprises are born 
out of much thought and as the result of sac- 
rifice. So the Church of Christ comes to us 
out of the womb of four thousand years of 
suffering and sacrifice culminating in the 
tragedy of Calvary where the sinless Christ 
of God gave himself up to the torture that on- 
ly devils could suggest and depraved men ex- 
ecute. The Church of the living God comes 
to us with her garments perfumed with sixty 
centuries of devotion and consecration and 
rich sacrifice of millions of God's best men 
and women. She comes with a message from 
heaven to the weary toilers in the vineyard of 
the Master. She says to the fainting soldier 
in the army of righteousness: "Fight the 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 169 

^ood fight of faith and lay hold on eternal 
life." The church throws out the life-line to 
the sinking sinner in the great whirlpool of 
destruction and in the voice of a mother's love 
urges him to lay hold and live. With the 
coming of the Church of Christ there dawned 
in the heart of men a hope which has bright- 
ened and deepened with the advance of the 
multiplied centuries. The church honors the 
name of Grod, gives her energies to the cause 
of Christ and carries the bread of life to the 
perishing millions. With such a lofty origin 
and a mission in which angels are glad to en- 
gage, the church comes to us today and asks 
for our trust and help. 

The saloon comes to us as an instution 
growing out of the unrestrained selfishness of 
man strengthened by an inordinant desire to 
become rich regardless of the character of the 
means employed. The saloon does not come 
with a message, but with the cunning of mul- 
tiplied devils it robs the poor man of his hard 
earned wages, gives to the wife long nights of 
weary watching, tears, heart-aches, a broken 
constitution and at last an open grave around 
whose brink stand ragged, heart-broken child- 
ren left with an inheritance of rags and shame, 
and a father whose soul is lost to all sense of 
shame and whose heart is in the grip of de- 
monized appetite. 

The saloon is an outlaw in all good socie- 
ty and an object of adverse criticism by its 



170 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

best patrons, a source of at least three fifths 
of the crime of our country. During the 
epoch from 1870 to 1880 there were 25,000 
people in the South who died with yellow fev- 
er. As the fatal scourge spread the city, state 
and United States governments united in one 
continued effort to stamp out the awful dis- 
ease. Quarantine, confiscation of property 
and the destruction of business, and the total 
disregard of individual interests were all em- 
ployed to stop the plague. We all said that 
the efforts made to put an end to yellow fever 
were all right and should be upheld by all the 
people. Good! During the above time there 
were 600,000 deaths in the United States, as 
the direct result of the saloon ravages. Our 
government not only did not quarantine 
againsb this deadly foe but it went into part- 
nership with the saloon and accepted blood 
money as the price of souls. Cash that now 
lies in the state and national treasuries is the 
price of souls. And every man who voted for 
the saloon directly or indirectl}' is responsi- 
ble for the result. Yellow fever only caused 
the death of the body, but the saloon swallows 
up the soul and robs heaven of its just re- 
ward. In one year we spent for the stuff that 
oozes out through the saloon $900,000,000. This 
large sum of money would buy 333,000 farms 
of 100 acres each and pay $30 per acre for the 
land. If put into homes it would buy 900,000 
homes and pay $1,000 each for them. It would 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 171 

employ 900,000 preachers one year at a salary 
of $1,000. If used in our schools it would 
employ 900,000 teachers one year on a salary 
of $1,000. If used in building churches we 
could put up 300,000 church buildings at a 
cost of $3,000 each. It would send 100,000 mis- 
sionaries to foreign lands for nine years on a 
salary of $1,000 per year. Remember that 
any one of these results ceuld be realized with 
the drink bill of our country for one year. 
And the $900,000,000 is the direct cash paid 
for drink. It does not take into account the 
great loss caused by incompetent men made 
so by drink. We cannot measure the tears, 
beart-aches, poverty, shame, disgrace and 
death that follow in the wake of the saloon. 
Only the great God can see the eternal results 
and measure the fearful responsibility of that 
man who so far forgets his mission in life as 
to vote for such an institution of death. 
Across the wide expanse of three thousand 
years there comes the voice of God saying: 
"Cursed is he who putteth the bottle to his 
neighbor's lip." "No drunkard shall enter 
the kingdom of heaven," says the Savior of 
men. "Be not drunk with wine," says the 
grand Apostle Paul. And in the face of all 
these mighty admonitions men are every year 
working to legalize the saloon where men are 
made drunkards. I walk beside the stream 
fed by the saloon and I see besotted, beastly 
manhood, degraded womanhood, beggar d and 



172 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

depraved childhood, brothels, altars where 
the flower of maidenhood is sacrified to the 
lust of saloon crazed men; jails, prison pens, 
insane and mad houses, broken hearts, living 
skeletons, death — hell. 

Viewing this maelstrom of death and eter- 
nal shame I am asked by men to vote for the 
source of it all on the ground of party loyalty, 
or the score of control. A babe is born, a 
mother lingers near death's door to bring the 
little stranger in. Rall^dng from the pain and 
weakness, she devotes her time, energies and 
prayers to the education of the child. In the 
advance of years the child becomes a maiden 
of rare accomplishments of heart and charac- 
ter. She marries a young man of fine pros- 
pects; years come and go; the saloon flourishes. 
One night the fond mother is startled with an 
urgent call to her daughter's home; there she 
finds the child of her soul lyicg on the flour 
in pools of blood, dead. The husband came 
home drunk-crazed, yes demonized by drink, 
takes up a chain, dashes out the brains of 'her 
whom he promised to love and cherish till 
death should come. The mother stands in 
the presence of this awful scene and has no 
redress but a mute appeal to the mighty God 
who will some day strike the monster to death. 
The father and husband, with thousands of 
other male church members, cast their vote 
for an institution that produces such results 
and the mother raust submit now, but, by and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 173 

by, God will require an account of our steward- 
ship. 

I stand beside another stream fed by the 
church of the living God and I see redeemed 
manhood, beautified womanhood, angelic maid- 
enhood, heaven-inclined childhood, churches, 
Sunday Schools, missionary enterprises, vac- 
ant saloons, empty jails, decaying prison 
wallS; intellectual giants, moral heroes, life — 
heaven. 

These two pictures are before my mind's 
eye today; and, at the bar of my own conscience 
and by the demands of the law of God, I am re- 
quired to take a stand with one or the other of 
these institutions; and I must decide. lean- 
not divide my sympathy and support between 
them : for their work, result, and destiny are 
so wide apart that I have to stand for one or 
the other. The demands of the times are such 
that men must be either for or against these: 
for they have nothing in common and cannot 
hold a place in the same soul. The evil of the 
one and the great good of the other are ac- 
knowledged by all men; and reason demands 
that we chose the good and throw aside the 
evil. 

The church comes to us on a mission of 
love and salvation pointing us to the grand 
possibilities of time and eternity, and appeal- 
ing to us in the name of all that is good, to 
lend our influence, and time, and energies to 
the great work of saving souls. No one who 



174 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

has read his Bible with any degree of candor 
can question the attitude of Christ and his 
apostles on the liquor question. Imagine the 
Christ of God casting his ballot for the saloon 
under any pretext known to man ! He whom 
angels worshiped, devils confessed, and men 
denounced, came not into the world bo com- 
promise with evil in any form. Compromise 
would have saved him from Calvary but you 
and I would have been lost. Compromise 
would have set Paul and his brethren free but 
the world would have had no triumphant church 
and conquering gospel. Compromise would 
have kept the Redeemer in heaven but the 
dark places of earth would have remained en- 
veloped in mid-night gloom to this day. Com- 
promise, doubt and timidity, have no place in 
the ranks of the forces that stand behind the 
church of the living God. The church and the 
saloon can have no sort of affiliation, for one is 
of God and the other of the devil. One comes 
with a message of love and peace, the other 
produces hate and war; one enriches the soul, 
purifies the heart and makes the home beauti- 
ful; the other beggars the soul, corrupts the 
heart and ruins the home. The one gives to us 
kind fathers; the other brings to us a demon- 
izedsoul. The one brings sunshine and happy 
songs; the other darkness and the funeral 
airge of the soul. The one clothes the naked 
and feeds the hungry; the other sells the baby 
shoes for whisky and starves its victims into 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 175 

insanity. The one has tears for the sorrowing; 
the other curses for the fallen. 

The Church and the Saloon: God gave us 
the one to saye us to endless life, the devil 
gave us the other to lure us to eternal night. 
What shall be said of the man who can turn 
from the church and give his life and influence 
to the saloon? What should be the attitude of 
the church toward the saloon? Can we con- 
sistently vote for an institution whose only 
mission in life is to make money at the ex- 
pense of so uls, and when its work is done hell 
is replete with souls for whom Christ died and 
heaven wept to save? In the name of that 
God who has ever been man's only abiding 
friend; in the name of Him who endured Cal- 
vary; in the name of the multipled thousands 
of widows made such by the saloon; in the 
name of the heart-appeal of the maidenhood of 
our land for help; in the name of the vast 
army of beggared children; in the name of the 
unborn babes; in the name of your own soul 
men of the church I appeal to you to forever 
forsake the rank of those who for any consid- 
eration can give themselves to the direct or 
indirect support of the saloon. Come out on 
the side of the struggling millions and cast 
your lot with the enemies of the saloon. Let 
your sense of justice and love of souls dictate 
your course of conduct in the future toward 
the saloon and the church. Let the church of 
the living God become such an aggressive 



176 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

power against the accursed liquor traffic that 
politicians will not laugh with derision when 
they read resolutions passed by a religious 
congress or Christian convention. When we 
pray God to remove all temptation from our 
path let us see to it that we do not vote for a 
trap for our souls. 

Let us stand on Calvary amid the gather- 
ing darkness of that awful tragedy, and, be- 
holding the blood stained face of our beloved 
Lord and Christ, let us in this atmosphere de- 
cide our course of conduct toward the saloon 
and all of its attendant evils and we shall act 
wisely — G-od help us to do right! 




^, 



jL,J^ 



C. A. Gray 



CHARLES A. GRAY, 

Charles Arthur Gray, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Paulding: county, Ohio, April 12, 1870. At 
the age of 14 years, he moved with his parents to west- 
ern Iowa, in which state he has resided ever since. 
From his early boyhood he has possessed remarkable 
powers of abstract reasoning. At the age of 15 years, 
(although he had never seen the inside of one) he in- 
vented a steam engine, differing in some respects from 
all others, but whose differences were not of sufficient 
consequence to merit a patent. Since then, other in- 
ventions of a useful nature have followed. During his 
early years, on account, of sickness, he was denied the 
advantages of a schooling. When he was older his ser- 
vices were needed on the farm. Consequently at the 
age of 18 years he found himself poorly equipped men- 
tally for life's battles. Happily at this period of his 
life he was surrounded with circumstances that awak- 
ened in his mind a desire for an education. He again 
entered the district school, going into classes with mem- 
bers much younger than himself, and by applying him- 
self diligently to his studies, that winter and the 
next, having worked on the farm during the summer, 
he was ready in the spring to enter the Woodbine Nor- 
mal and Academy at Woodbine, Iowa. After his stay 
of six months here. Prof. Riddell wrote in his notes for 
the local paper; "Possibly no student in the school has 
burned as much midnight oil as Mr. Gray. During the 
past six months, he has made as much progress as oth- 



180 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ers have in two years." At the close of this time, his 
finances being exhausted, he went out to teach school; 
which school he taught three terms in succession. It 
was during this time that Eld. Clark Braden delivered 
his series of lectures in Woodbine under the auspices 
of the Christian church. Delighted with the power of 
his logic the young teacher sat with undivided atten- 
tion, while others, coming to hear something funny, 
pronounced the lectures dry. Following this series, 
Eld. J. F. Ghormley conducted a tent meeting of six 
weeks, nearly every night of which Mr. Gray attended; 
although to do so, it was necessary to walk in three 
miles alter school and walk back again the same night. 
During this meeting he was converted; and in a month 
after preached his first sermon in the Christian church 
at Woodbine, to a large and curious, if not an apprecia- 
tive audience. Soon after this he left for Drake Uni- 
versity where he attended school for a j'ear, preaching 
on Sundays at a little church on North River as a means 
of a livelihood. It was while at Drake University he 
became acquainted with, and married Miss Lillie Pain- 
ter, yougest daughter of Eld. J. H, Painter, well known 
in the state of Iowa. 

Mr. Gray has held a number of successful meetings 
in Iowa and Illinois, and at present is pastor of the 
church of Christ at Prairie City, Iowa. Along with 
ministerial labors he has devoted a considerable time 
to his favorite study— mental philosophy — for which his 
power of abstract thought well qualifies him. Besides 
studying all authors of repute upon the subject, he has 
made many original discoveries by his own experi- 
ments and observation. He has made no mean attain- 
ment for one of his age and advantages, and, while his 
sermons show the philosophic mind, his delight and 
power is in preaching the gospel to which he has cod- 
secrated his life. 



THE CHURCH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



CHARLES A. GRAY. 

Concerning the church of the New Testa- 
ment, I wish to speak in a plain, Christian like 
way; and I feel sure it will be received in the 
same spirit in which it is given; for, regard- 
less of what may have been the former belief, 
or what the present church affiliations, the 
church of the New Testament is common 
ground on which we can all meet, and in which 
we are all more ar less interested. 1 speak of 
the church of the New Testament because 
there is but one church recognized in its pages 
and it is without the shadow of a doubt the 
true church; for it is the one originated by 
Christ and his inspired apostles. To argue 
that this was not the -true church, and the one 
altogether right, would be to cast doubt on the 
divinity of Christ and the inspiration of the 
apostles. But no one would so argue; and, 
therefore, we take this as a model for all time 
feeling that whosoev r lives in exact accord- 
ance with the instruction to this church will 
live exactly right; and whosoever lives near- 
est in accordance with this instruction will 
live nearest right. 



182 DOCTRma and life 

I now wish to call your attention to some 
elements essential to the existence of such a 
body; for there are elements absolutely neces- 
sary and without which the church could not 
exist, such as a founder, foundation, etc., and 
there are other elements which are only acci- 
dental, that is, they may appear in connection 
with the body, or they may not, and still not 
interfere with its existence. Of this class we 
would mention, a church fcuilding at Jerusa- 
lem which they ma}^ not have at Antioch, and 
a stove, seats, etc., at Antioch which they 
ma}^ not have at Jerusalem. These illustra- 
tions will make it clear, I believe, that it is 
necessary to properly discriminate between 
the essential and accidental. It will be seen 
also that the essential elements are all that 
are necessary with which to identify a body. 
What then are these elements? is the question 
I know you will ask and I therefore proceed 
to mention them. 

First, it must have a founder, for it is im- 
possible for anything to be, before it has be- 
come; and, since the theory of spontaneous 
generation Las been overthrown, we regard 
that everything that has existence must have 
had a producer. 

Second, it must have a foundation: for 
without anything to stand upon it cannot 
stand. 

Third, it must have a beginning, a time of 
beginning, and a place of beginning. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 183 

Fourth, it must have terms of member- 
ship, which constitute the dividing line be- 
tween itself and the surrouning element: for 
without this it would in no wise differ from 
it, and therefore would have no seperate 
existence, hence it would not be. 

Fifth, it must have members: for it is 
the separate individuals associated that make 
the body. 

Sixth, it must have worship: A religious 
body whose chief object is to worship God 
could not exist as a religious body and dis- 
pense with this essential element. 

Seventh, it must have officers for pro- 
tection, for edification; and to see that the 
discipline is observed, which, as an eighth 
element is also essential. 

Finally, it must have a name: A word is 
the sign of an idea; an idea to be expressed 
must be embodied in a word; an organization 
composed of parts must be such that the 
parts can communicate with each other; 
Therefore, an organization, to maintain its 
identity and communicate with other organi- 
zations, must have a name. 

Having now noted in as brief a manner as 
possible the elements essential to the begin- 
ning and continuance of such an organization, 
and which are marks also by which we can 
identify it, we pass to the facts concerning 
the church. 



184 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Whe7i and tvhere did it first 'begin? "And 
T say also unto thee, that thou art Peter and 
upon this rock will I build my church." Matt. 
16:18. The reference here, A. D. 29, was to the 
future; hence, the church was not then in ex- 
istence. "And the Lord added to the church 
daily such as were being saved." Acts 2:47. 
This reference, A. D. 30, shows the church 
was in existence, and therefore it must have 
come into existence some time between A. D. 
29 and 30. 

"When the Comforter is come, whom I 
will send unto you from the Father, even the 
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the 
Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also 
shall bear witness, because ye have been 
with me from the begining." John 15:26-27. 
"And when he is come he will reprove the 
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of 
judgment." John 16:8. "But when they 
deliver you up take no thought how or what 
ye shall speak; for it shall be given you what 
ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, 
but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh 
in you." Matt. 10:19-20- "And that repent- 
ance and remission of sins shall be preached 
in his name among all nations begining at 
Jerusalem. And ye are witnessess of these 
things. And behold I send the promise of 
the father upon you: but tarry ye in the city 
of Jerusalem until ye be endued with pow- 
er from on high." Luke 24:47-49. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 185 

^'And when the day Pentecost was fully 
come, they were all of one accord in one place, 
and suddenly there came a sound from heaven 
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all 
the house where they were sitting, and there 
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of 
fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they 
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began 
to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave 
them utterance." Acts. 2:1-4. 

To this scripture might be added Acts 2: 
14 and from the 37th to the 40th verses which 
give us the result of this speaking. In brief 
it consists of the piercing to the hearts of the 
auditors ; their anxious inquiry as to what to 
do to be saved; the answer of the apostle; 
their obedience; continuance in well doing; 
and the statement that the Lord added them 
to the church. From the foregoing scripture 
we summarize the following: The Spirit was 
to testify of Christ; the apostles would testify 
also; in this testimony the Spirit would re- 
prove the world of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment; in doing this He would speak 
througn the apostles; the begining of this 
work to be at Jerusalem; after that the Spirit - 
came upon them. The Spirit came upon them 
in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost; he spoke 
through them and reproved the world of sin, 
of righteousness, and of judgment, piercing 
them to the heart with a sense of their guilt, 
until they obeyed and were added to the 



186 DOCTRINa AND LIFE 

church. Hence, the time and place of the be- 
ginning of the church was on the first Pente- 
cost after the resurrection in the city of Jeru- 
salem. 

Who tvas its founder? '^And T say also unto 
thee, that thou art Peter and upon this rock I 
will build my church. Matt. 16-18. (Jesus 
was speaking) "He is the head of the body, 
the church; who is the beginning, the first 
born from the dead; that in all things He 
might have the pre-eminence." Col. 1:18 
(spoken of Jesus). Then Jesus was the 
founder of the church, and with Him we are 
satisfied. 

Upon lohat is it huiltf "And I say also unto 
thee, that thou art Peter and upon this rock I 
will build my church" Matt. 16:18. "Upon 
this rock" has reference to the confession 
which Peter had just made in verse 16. As 
corroborative of this see Eph, 2:19, "And are 
built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being chief 
corner (stone) also Cor. 3:11. "For other 
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, 
which is Jesus Christ. 

What were the terms of membership? First, 
they were to believe in God. Heb. 11:6. "But 
without faith it is impossible to please Him ; 
for he that cometh to God must believe that 
He is, and thnt He is a reward er of them that 
diligently seek Him." TJiose that believed in 
God were told to believe in Christ as the Son 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 187 

of God." 1 John 5:5. "Who is he that over- 
eometh the world, but he that bolieveth that 
Jesus is the the son of God. This faith was 
produced by hearing the word of God. Rom. 
10:17. *'So then faith cometh by hearing and 
hearing by the word of God." "But these 
are written that ye might believe that Jesus 
is the Christ, the son of God ; and that, be- 
lieving, ye might have life through His name." 
John 20:31. 

Faith in Christ produced a conviction of 
sin. Acts 2:37. "And when they heard this 
they were pricked to the heart, and cried out, 
etc. This conviction of sin produced Godly 
sorrow which in turn worked repentance. 
2 Cor. 7:10. "For Godly sorrow worketh re- 
pentance to salvation not to be repented of." 
And now since the first transgression consist- 
ed of disobedience; the rebellion of man's 
will against the will of God, or the erection of 
selfhood against Godhood, and its consequent 
wandering from God; so also in returning to 
God must the will of man be brought into sub- 
mission to the will of God, whose will is al- 
ways right. Now as willfulness against God 
is sin, and God cannot consistently forgive sin 
until the individual ceases to practice; so God 
withholds His forgiveness until after the sub- 
mission. "Repent and be baptized everyone 
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re- 
mission (forgiveness) of sins." Acts 2:38. 
Now in order to this submission and as a man- 



188 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

if e station of the same, God has commanded 
and the person submits to immersion of his 
body in water. "Repent and be baptized 
everyone of you, etc." Acts 2:38. Therefore 
we are buried with Him by baptism into death; 
that like as Christ was raised from the dead 
by the glory of the Father, even so we also 
should walk in newness of life." Rome. 6:4. 
This brings the individual into Christ, 
into relationship with the Father, Son and 
Holy Spirit, and into the kingdom. "For as 
many of you as have been baptized into Christ 
have put on Christ." Gal. 3:27. "Baptizing 
them into the name of the Father, and of the 
Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matt. 28:19. 
"Except a man be born of water and theSpirit 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
John 3:5. Which is equal to: if a man is born 
of water and the Spirit he can enter into the 
kingdom of God. As being in the kingdom is 
the desired end of the transition; the forego- 
ing constitutes the terms of membership. 

We will next inquire: 

Who are the members? Upon this subject the 
scriptures are so clear, that we hesitate not to 
reply: none but those who are able and willing 
to believe and obey. Matt. 28:19-19. 

"Go ye therefore and make disciples of all 
the nations, baptizing them into the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I am 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 189 

with you always, ever unto the end of the 
world. R, V. This is the commission under 
which the-i apostles went out to work and we 
have no right to suppose they would change 
it in the least. Again Mark 16:16: "He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, Acts 
2:38 "Repent and be baptized every one of you 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission 
of sins." 1 Peter 3:21: "A like figure 
whereunto baptism doeth also now save us." 
As faith, repentance, and baptisim are pre- 
requisites of salvation, and "The Lord added 
to the church daily such as were being saved" 
Acts 2:47, He must have added to the church 
those able and willing to believe and obe}^ 
With this do all the recorded instances of con- 
version in the New Testament agree. It is 
true there are three instances of household 
conversions recorded, but this is not out of 
harmony with the above statement, for in our 
own experience we can recall instances of 
household conversions^ and yet all were old 
enough to believe and obey. 

We will noiu turn our attention to the toor- 
ship^ which is a marvel of beauty and simpli- 
city. II Tim. 4:2. "Preach the word, be in- 
stant in season, out of season; reprove, re- 
buke, exhort with all long suffering and doc- 
trine." Acts 2:42. "And upon the first day 
of the week when the apostles came together 
to break bread, Paul preached unto them 
ready to depart on the morrow ; and continued 



190 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

his speech until midnight." Cor. 3:16- "Let 
the word of God dwell in you richly in all wis- 
dom; teaching and admonishing one another 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 
To sum up we have the following: Preaching 
praying, singing, communing and teaching. 
And lest, my dear friend, you should be con- 
fused by the practice of some of communing 
once in three or six months, I shall here state 
that it was the practice of the early church to 
meet and commune upon every Lord's day. 
This you will see from the quotation of scrip- 
ture (Acts 20:7) which is also corroborated by 
the apostolic fathers. 

What officers did the New Testament church 
have? We find no less than twenty-one dis- 
trict classes of officers ; but later on we notice 
that some of the officers merged into each 
other so that one officer did the work of two 
or more of them; and some offices b}" the 
very nature of them were destined to be but 
temporal. These passed away leaving but 
four distinct, permanent offices, namely: (1) 
Evangelists; (2) Bishops — elders or pastors; 
(3) Deacons and deaconesses; (4) Teachers. 
The scriptures referred to are the following: 
Acts 14:23; Eph. 4:11-12; Acts 5:3; 1 Tim. 3:8; 
Rom. 16:1. (We find the same word rendered 
servant in this verse which is rendered deac- 
on in 1 Tim. 3:8 showing that members of both 
sex filled this office.) We find also in Eph. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 191 

4:11 12 to temporary classes of officers: Apos- 
tles and prophets, which passed away with 
the Apostolic age. 

Of what did the discipline consist? Church 
discipline consists of the prevention of trans- 
gression, the restoration of the fallen, and the 
dissevering from the body of the incurable. 
But in order to this a rule or standard to go 
by is necessary, and this rule or standard is 
what concerns us now. About this, my 
brother, there can be no mistake, for the 
scripture is very clear upon this point. 2 Tim. 
3, 16:17. ''And that from a child thou hast 
known the holy scriptures which are able to 
make thee wise unto salvation through faith 
which is in Christ Jesus* All scripture is 
given by inspiration of God and is profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness; that the man of 
God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished un- 
to all good works." 2 Thes. 3:6: "Now we 
command you brethren, in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw your- 
selves from every brother that walketh dis- 
orderly and not after the tradition whioh he 
received of us." The apostle says the scrip- 
ture thoroughly furnishes a man unto all good 
works and sets this up as the standard of dis- 
cipline when he commands the brethren to 
withdraw from any that do not walk accord- 
ing to it. But some may ask you, "Is this the 
only standard of discipline? to which the 



192 DOCTRINE A2sD LIFE 

apostle replies: "But though we, or an angel 
from heaven, preach any o'her gospel unto 
you, let him be acursed. As we said before, 
so say I now again, if any man preach any 
ether gospel unto you than ye have received, 
let him be accursed." Gal. 1:8-9. 

Finally, we come to inquire; What name 
or names did the early Christians wear as a 
body and as individuals? 

Concerning the first part of this question 
we have Rom. 16:16. "Salute one another 
with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ 
salute you." 1 Cor. 15:9. "For I am least of 
the apostles, that am not meet to be called an 
apostle, because I presented the church of 
God." We have aJso in Heb. 12:23, "To the 
general assembly and church of the first 
born," etc; but as Christ is called the first 
b©rn (col. 1:18) there would be no difference 
between this and Rom. 16:16, Hence, either 
the church of Christ or the church of God 
would be scriptural and right. Now, con- 
cerning the name of the individuals we have 
1 Cor. 1:12, "Unto the church of God which is 
at Corinth, to them which are sanctified in 
Christ Jesus, called to be saints," etc. Acts 
9:25, 26: "Then the disciples took him by 
night and let him down by the wall in a bas- 
ket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem 
he assayed to join himself to the disciples, 
but they were all afraid of him and believed 
not that he was a disciple." Acts 11:26: "And 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 193 

the disciples were called Christians first at 
Antioch." 1 Pet. 4:16: "Yet if any man suf- 
fer as a Christian let him not be ashamed." 
The term disciple — meaning learner— is gen- 
eral and did not specify of whom they were 
learners, but the term Christian is specific, 
having reference to Christ only and meaning 
C-h-r-i-s-t — Christ and the suffix i-a-n — follow- 
er of, hence, follower of Christ; which term 
came into more general use as witnessed in 
Acts 11:26 and 1 Pet. 4:16, just read, along 
with Acts 26:28 where Paul endeavors to make 
a Christian of Agrippa. 

My dear friend, I believe you will agree 
with me that it is the true church and ought 
to be restored. But how restore it? you will 
ask. I answer by every one that becomes a 
Christian, complying with the terms of admis- 
sion and membership of the church of the 
New Testament as set forth in the scripture. 
But you ask would such a plea be popular? 

The question should not be, would it be pop- 
ular; but would it be right? But concerning 
the former, I am happy to say, that the relig- 
ous body known as the church of Christ, whose 
plea is the restoration of primitive Christian- 
ity, in doctrine and practice, has at the present 
time, nearly a million and a half members ;_a 
sufficient number standing hand in handto en- 
circle the earth, and this too in only about 
sixty years. So popular is the plea that manj^, 
tiring of the efforts at revision of creeds to get 



194 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

back to the original land marks, have renoun- 
ced them altogether and cast their lives with 
those who desire to be known as Christians 
only. Yes this plea is without doubt both 
right and popular. And now dear reader, do 
you not want to have a part in this restoration 
movement which is sweeping o'er the earth 
with wonderful rapidity, and is destined to 
encompass the world? 




Lawrence Wright. 



LAWRENCE WRIGHT. 

Brother Laurence Wright was born in the state of 
Iowa, May 24th 1862, His people are from Indiana, and 
belong to the Wright family, all of whom are members 
of the Christian church, and most of the men are preach- 
ers, Jacob, Claborn, Nathan Wright were among the 
pioneer preachers and there have been an uncounted 
hosts of preachers in the one or two generations since 
these men were in their prime. They were men of large 
common sence, limited educational advantages, full of 
untiring energy, unflagging zeal for the truth in Christ 
and an intimate knowledge ot the Scriptures. And many 
thousand have rejoiced in the hope of the gospel because 
of their faithful work. All who know the subject of this 
sketch will recognize him as a typical member of the 
Wright family, with one difference; his opportunities 
have been much greater. 

Brother Wright was brouGht up on a farm. Learn- 
ed farming, carpentry, and attended the district school 
by turns till he had nearly reached his majority. Hebe- 
came a member of the church whenabout thirteen years 
of age, and has worked in the causeof Christ ever since. 
He married Miss Libbie Jenison when he was twenty, 
and for four years divided his time between the farm 
and public school. He owned some land and could have 
made a good living on the farm but he felt that he ought 
to preach the gospel. So he came to Drake University 
in 1886 when he was twenty-four years old with ninety 
dollars in his pocket to start in with. He said it would 
be impossible for him to go more than one or two years 
at the best, but at any rate he thought he could learn 



198 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

how to study by that time. As he was up to the level 
of the common school then, he thought he would get the 
most benefit from the English Bible Course. Many 
stddents came with brighter prospects; with more 
means, and competent to appear to a better advantage. 
Even the President of the institution said to me: "'You 
will make a preacher of Wright?" with that peculiar in- 
flection that indicated serious doubt on the subject. 
Perhaps I was, at the cime, the only member of the 
Faculty who had perfect confidence in his future suc- 
cess. His tenacity of purpose, his unfliaching willing- 
ness to toil and suffer, and economize made me very 
hopeful from the first. He needed more than the Eng- 
lish Bible Course, but to have insisted on it at that 
time would have driven him from the school. 

For two years he was in the Bible department at 
the first, he had to splice out his scanty means by his 
trade. The second year he began preaching and found 
some support in that way. During the second year he 
spent altogether, including books and tuition, board 
and rent, $155.30. After that it was easier to get a liv- 
ing and give his time to study. His preaching on Sun- 
days, with an occasional week's meeting kept him and 
his littla family quite well. So he continued in classical 
work and graduated in 1891. Since that time he has been 
much of the time in the evangelistic field. Prof. E. M. 
Martindale has been singing evangelist with him and 
has rendered good service. In the last five years they 
have held twenty-eight meetings and added twelve hun- 
dred and sixty to the churches. In a number of these 
meetings there was nothing for them to bank on when 
they oegan the meeting. They have undertaken the 
hardest fields in the state of Iowa, and in all of them 
they have succeeded but two. In these, timid brethern 
had the meetings stopped before there was any chance 
to accomplish good. 

We have had but few men among us who have had 



BY IOWA WKITERS 199 

more of the word of God committed to memory than 
Bro. Wright. His sermons are thought out, studied 
out, wrought out and finished before he gives them to 
the people. Every text needed is at h:s tongues end, 
and comes at the right time and in the right way. He 
has carried a copy of the Greek New Testament in his 
pocket most of the time since he began reading the 
Greek. He can quote it by the section without looking 
on the book. He does not quail before anything; faith 
in God, and faith ia himself and faith in the people, 
make him an invincible power for good. He is thorough- 
ly endorsed by our able men who have heard him and 
who know of his work. But I have seen nothing which 
so well states my views as a notice given by Bro. A. 
M. Haggard, Sec'y of the Iowa Christian Convention, 
which I take the liberty to quote in full: 

"It gives me pleasure to say a few things in 
praise of the work of Evangelist Lawrence Wright. I 
have known him and his work intimately for several 
years. In these years I have learned to love the man 
and to appreciate his work very highly. His work 
stands after he is gone — stands like an oak tree deeply 
rooted. It does not crumble and scatter like chaff. 
Most of his work, if not all, has been done in difficult 
fields — places which try men's souls. There is no man 
in Iowa who will face more apparent impossibilities and 
hold on longer than Wright, with Martindale his sin- 
ger. The word impossible is not in his copy of Web- 
ster. He would not know defeat if he met him in the 
road at high noon. When our State board gives Wright 
and Martindale a difficult field, we confidently expect a 
good meeting, a lot purchased and house built^ and a 
pastor located — all in six or eight weeks and rarely are 
we disappointed. These men of God have done a great 
work in Iowa.'' 

I am glad that under the Divine providence I was 
permitted to assist this man of God in preparing for the 
great work of his life. He has succeeded be} ond my 



200 DOCTRIXE AND LIFE 

expectations. He will probably give the rest of his life 
in the evangelistic field and will join the harvest home 
at last bearing a very large number of sheaves. 

D, R. DUNGAN. 



REGENERATION. 

BY LAWRENCE WRIGHT. 

1 EXT: ^' Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto 
thee, Except a man be horn of water and of the SpiHt, he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. — John 3:5. 

When asked by the publisher of this book 
to write a short article, the question came to 
my mind, what subject will be of most impor- 
tance to the greatest number? Among other 
subjects the one contained in the text came 
forcibly to my mind. 

There is no subject in the Bible about 
which there is more mysticism and anxious 
thought than this one. The reason for the 
anxious thought is apparent to all. The fact 
that Jesus md;kes the birth of the water and 
of the Spirit the conditions of entering into 
the kiDgdom of God is sufficient reason for 
any rational person being concerned about it. 
But why should there be so much confusion 
about this text? There are other statements 
in the same connection, which were just as 
little understood by Nicodemus as this state- 
ment, and at the present time are understood 
by every Sunday School boy or girl. When 
Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent 



202 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

in the wilderness, even so must the Son of 
man be lifted up," and "God so loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish 
but have everlasting life," he uttered state- 
ments as little understood by Nieodemus as 
the text. 

When Jesus made these statements, he 
stated things which had not taken place yet, 
but were soon to take place. No one had at 
that time been born of the water and of the 
Spirit. Neither had the Son of man been lift- 
ed up. A short time after this statement 
Christ was lifted up (nailed to the cross), and 
on the day of Pentecost a large number were 
born of the water and of the Spirit. Now 
since these things have become history, they 
ought to be thoroughly understood. And were 
it not for the theories and speculations of the- 
ologians and false teachers, my conviction is 
that the expression, born of water and of the 
Spirit, would be understood by all as readily 
as the expression, *'As Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
Son of man be lifted up." 

Now since this subject is of so much im- 
portance, and is so little understood by the 
great mass of religious people, it is the object 
of this discussion to throw such light upon 
the subject as will render it intelligible to 
every reader, whether child or adult, educated 
or un-educated. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 203 

Now to the discussion of the text. What 
idea did Jesus mean to convey Nicodemus by 
the text? One thing is clear to all- whatever 
it was, it was something, which had to be 
done in order to enter into the kingdom of 
God. Or if we can find out just what is neces- 
sary to bring one into the kingdom of God, we 
may know just as certainly what the expression 
''born of water and of the spirit" means? 

Peter was the person, who was to make 
known, what had to be done in order to enter 
into the kingdom of God. So in Matt. 16: 18- 
19 we read. '*And T say also unto thee, That 
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
my church; and the gates of hell snail not pre- 
vail against it. Ana I will give unto thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever 
thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in 
heaven ; and whatsoever thou shall loose on 
earth shall be loosed in heaven. ' ' 

The place where he was to begin was in 
Jerusalem. Luke 24: 47. 

The time when he was to begin was when 
endued with power from on high. "And be- 
hold, I send the promise of my Father upon 
you;but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, un- 
til ye be endued with power from on high. 
Lu. 24:49. This promise was the baptism of 
the Holy Spirit. ''And being assembled to- 
gether with them, commanded them that they 
should not depart from Jerusalem but wait 
f6r the promise of the Father, which saith he, 



204 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ye have heard of me: For John truly baptized 
with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the 
Holy Spirit not many days hence." Acts 1:4-5. 

The things which were to be done are 
clearly set forth by the Savior: "Go ye there- 
fore and teach all rations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father and of the Son and of 
the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever 1 have commanded 
you, and lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." Matt. 28: 19-20. "And 
he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and 
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but 
he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 
16: 15-16. "And said unto them, Thus it is 
written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer 
and to raise from the dead the third day: And 
that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in his name among all nations be- 
ginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24: 46-47. 

Taking these three scriptures together we 
have 1 teaching, 2 believing, 3 repenting, 4- 
baptizing, and 5, remission of sins. Believ- 
ing, repenting and baptizing are the results 
of the teaching. The remission of sins is the 
result of the believing, repenting and baptiz- 
ing. 

Now in the second chapter of Acts we find 
Peter, the person, in Jerusalem, the place, at 
the time of the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, 
the time. In answer to their question. "What 



BY IOWA WRITERS. . 205 

shall we do?" Peter told them to ^^repent 
and be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and 
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." 
Acts 2: 38. 

(l)Peter taught them. (2) They believe his 
teaching. (3) They repeVited. (4) They were bap- 
tized. (5) They received the remission of sins. 
These things brought them into the kingdom. 
But being born of the water and of the Spirit 
brings them into the Kingdom. Therefore 
when they had believed, repented, and had been 
baptized, they were born of the water and of 
the Spirit. 

Now as being born of the water and of 
the Spirit brings one into the same relation- 
ship as does faith, repentance and baptism, 
therefore the expression born of the water 
must refer to faith or repentance or baptism. 
Now as the birth of water must refer to one 
of the three things just mentioned, and as it 
can not refer to either faith or repentance, it 
must necessarily refer to baptism. 

What did Jesus mean by the expression 
^^Borii 0/ the Spirit?^'' How is one born of the 
Spirit? Strictly speaking, no one is born of 
the Spirit unless the word horoi is used in that 
broad sense which comprehends both acts|(l) 
the act of being begotten (2) the act of being 
born. While the begettings and the births 
are very closely related, yet they are separ- 
ate acts and occur at separate times. To ex- 



206 . DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

press both ideas intelligently in English re- 
quires the use of the two words begotten and 
horn. 

Correctly speaking, a child is born of the 
mother, not of the father. It would not be 
correct to speak of a child as being begotten 
of the mother or being born of the father. 
The child is begotten of the father and born 
of the mother. So, correctly speaking, a man 
is begotten of the Father and born (baptized) 
of the water. The text would then read, 
"Except a man be begotten of the Spirit and 
born of the water, he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God." 

Now let us see how a man is begotten of 
the Spirit. John says: "Whosoever belie veth 
that Jesus is the Christ is born (begotten) of 
God." 1 John 6:1. James says: "Of his own 
will begat he us with the word of truth." 
James 1:18. Peter says: "Being born (be- 
gotten) again, not of corruptible seed, but of 
incorruptible, by the word of God which liv- 
eth and abideth forever." 1 Pet. 1:23. Paul 
says: "For in Christ Jesus I have begotten 
you through the gospel." 1 Cor. 4: 15 

Now it is evident that at the same time 
one is begotten of the Spirit, he is begotten 
of God, or else a man must be begotten twice 
in order to enter into the kingdom. It is just 
as evident that when one is begotten of the 
word of truth he is at the same time and act 
begotten by the Spirit or else he has to be be- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 207 

gotten three times in order to enter into the 
kingdom. Peter says we are begotten by the 
word of God, 1 Peter 1:23. Now this also 
must refer to the same act as that of be- 
ing begotten by the Spirit; otherwise four be- 
gettings are necessary in order to enter into 
the kingdom. Paul says we are begotten 
through the gospel. .Therefore, if, when one 
is begobten by the Spirit, he is not at the same 
time and act begotten by the gospel, then it 
is clear to all that a man must be begotten five 
different times is order to enter into the 
kingdom of God. In our text the Saviour 
says again which implies once more^ not five 
times. Therefore when a man is begotten of 
the Spirit, he is at the same time and by the 
same acts begotten of God, of the word of 
truth, of the word of God, and of the gospel. 
It is clear to all then that all these different 
expressions are different ways of expressing 
the same thought. Still some one might have 
difficulty in seeing just how the two expres- 
sions begotten of the Spirit and begotten of God 
could mean the same thing. This difficulty 
is at once removed when we remember that 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, con- 
stitute one firm and that Christ came to do the 
will of the Father and when he went back to 
heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to do his will, 
but as his will was the will of the Father 
therefore the Holy Spirit does the will of both 
the Son and the Father. In other words the 



208 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Holy Spirit represents the whole firm. So 
then when a man is begotten by the Holy 
Spirit, as the Spirit represents the firm, he is 
at the same time and by the sameact begotten 
of the Father. Some have difficulty in seeing 
how the two expressions, begotten of the 
Spirit and begotten of the word of God could 
refer to the same act. The difficulty is at 
once removed, when we remember that the 
word of God is the sword which the Spirit 
uses. ^'And take the helmet of salvation, 
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
of God." Eph. 6:17. In other words the 
Holy Spirit is the begetter, the word of God 
is the instrument through which the begetting 
takes place, and the heart is that which is be- 
gotten. Therefore when one is begotten by 
the word of God, he is at the same time and 
act begotten by the Spirit. 

When does this begetting take place? Let 
the Bible answer ! John says: "Whosoever 
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born (be- 
gotten) of God." 1 John 5:1. Paul says: "So 
then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by 
the word of God." Rom. 10:17. "Many oth- 
er signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his 
disciples, which are not written in this book. 
But these are written that ye might believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and 
that believing ye might have life through his 
name." John 20:30-31. Therefore whenever 
we hear that part of the word of God, which 



BY IOWA WRITERS. . 209 

forms within our hearts the ccnvietion that 
Jesus is the Christ and that conviction is pro- 
duced, we are then begotten of God. 

Failing to understand the difference be- 
tween the baptism of the Spirit and the ope- 
ration of the Spirit in conversion, is the cause 
of much confusion. There are only two cases 
of Holy Spirit baptism referred to in Acts of 
Apostles. The first was in Jerusalem on the 
day of Pentecost. The second was at the 
house of Cornelius. In the first case no one 
but the twelve Apostles were baptized with 
the Spirit. In the second case, "The Holy 
Spirit fell on all them which heard the word. ' ' 
Acts 10:44. The discussion of the baptism of 
the Spirit would be both interesting and in- 
structive, but would require more space than 
could be given here. And, as it does not log- 
ically belong in this discussion, we shall, with 
one or two remarks pass it by. So far as its 
purpose is concerned, the baptism of the 
Spirit might occur either before or after the 
birth of the water. The operation of the 
Spirit in begetting is always before the birth 
of the water, while the gift promised to every 
Christian always follows the begetting of the 
Spirit and the birth of the water. 

These three offices of the Holy Spirit are 
illustrated in the second chapfcerof Acts: Here 
the twelve Apostles received the baptism of 
Spirit, which enabled them to speak in dif- 
ferent tongues. The "Three Thousand" 



210 . DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

were pierced through their hearts, which was 
the begetting operation of the Spirit- This 
operation of the Spirit caused them to cry out 
"Men and brethren what shall we do?" Acts 
2:37. The answer was repent and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 
for the remission of sins and ye shall receive 
the gift of the Holy Spirit. This was the com- 
forting influence of the Holy Spirit, which al- 
ways followed obedience to the gospel. "Be- 
cause ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of his Son into your hearts crying Abba, Fath- 
er." Gal. 4:6. 

We have the mineral, vegetable, animal 
and spiritual kingdoms. The chasm between 
each of these kingdoms is so great that no 
process of cultivation can possibly bring any- 
thing that belongs in the one kingdom over 
into the other kingdom still higher. You can 
not by an}' process of cultivation convert a 
stone into a vegetable. You can polish it and 
make a much finer stone in appearance, but it 
still remains a stone. The same is true con- 
cerning the vegetable kingdom. A potato may 
be bought into a much higher state of cultiva- 
tion, but it is still a vegetable and remains in 
the vegetable kingdom. 

That which is true of the two kingdoms 
mentioned is also true of the animal. You may 
bring a man up to the highest degree of intel- 
lectual culture. You may if possible, gradu- 
ate him from every school, College and Uni- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 211 

versity in the country. Thus he may become 
a polished scholar, an intellectual giant, even 
a '^higher Critic," but he still remains out of 
the spiritual kingdom. * 'Whosoever belie veth 
that Jesus is the Christ is born (begotten) of 
God." 1 John 5:1. Faith comes by hearing 
the word of God. Rom. 10:17. Peter says, 
*'put no difference between us and them puri- 
fying their hearts by faith" Acts 15:9. Take 
these scriptures together and we have the 
conclusion: Whenever one hears the word of 
God and believes with all his heart that Jesus 
is the Christ his heart is then purified. He is 
then begotten of the Spirit and should be born 
of the water. John 3:8, one of the most per- 
plexing verses in the bible, interpretend in 
the light of the above facts, becomes perfectly 
clear and would read as follows: The Spirit, 
(not wind) breathes where he pleases, but you 
can not tell where he comes from nor where 
he goes to. In this way (by hearing the voice 
of the Spirit) is every one begotten by the 
spirit. 

Kind reader, hoping thereby, some light 
has been thrown upon this subject, these lines 
have been written and are kindly submitted. 




J. \V. \ande\valker, Jr. 



J. W. VANDEWALKER, JR. 

J. W. VanDewalker, Jr., was born in Polk county, 
lowd., April 2nd, 1867. He is descendent of Holland 
Dutch; speaks German fluently, has a fair knowledge of 
Latin and Greek. He is the oldest son of J. W. Van 
Dewalker, Sr. His father was a practicing physician 
at the time of his birth, but later gave up the practice 
of medicine for the ministry. He is now a minister of 
the Christian Church. 

When five years old his parents moved to Layfay- 
ette, Indiana, where his father's practice increased un- 
til his name became well known throughout the vicin- 
ity in which he lived. Later his father moved to Med- 
aryville, Ind., where J. W. graduated at the early age 
of sixteen. Sometime after this he came back to Iowa 
with his parents where he learned the barber's trade. 
Not being satisfied with this however, he has followed 
in his father's foot-steps; has gone to work in the Mas- 
ter's vineyard in the Christian church. He has just 
entered on his second year of his minisiry. He is a 
man of good ability ; zealous in the work, and is at home 
in the pulpit. Genial and social wherever you meet 
him. His flow of language comes free and easy; his 
earnest efi'orts are commendable. 

He began his first work in Holly Springs, Iowa, in 
May 1897. He soon won the hearts of his people, and 
his success was crowned with fifty-two additions. 
Much to the regret of his people, he resigned his posi- 
tion there and accepted the call of a larger field in 
Sioux City. 



216 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

His thirst for knowledge is great. He will gradu- 
ate in the Sioux City Medical School in the spring of 
1899. After this he will especially give his attention to 
the ministry. He is young and will no doubt grow in 
all the elements that make "a good minister of Jesus 
Christ." 

In 1890, at the age of 23. he married Miss Emma 
Lampman of Battle Creek, Iowa. She is a bright and in- 
telligent woman; truly indeed a gift from the Lord as a 
helpmate; a devoted wife and loving mother. There 
are three children to bless and brighten the home with 
their merry glee, viz., two sons and one daughter; Glen 
six years of age, Pearl four, and Ray two. 

Mrs. a. W. B. 



EVIDENCE OF PARDON. 

"7/^ we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is 
greater.'^ 1 John 5.9. 

As we look around us upon every hand 
we see divisions among God's people. Divers 
doctrines are taught. The question will 
naturally arise: Has God revealed different 
laws of admission into his kingdom? Are the 
terms of pardon so intricate that people can 
not understand them? Or is it a fact that we 
may know for certain that we are pardoned? 
That our sins are forgiven? These questions 
are of vast importance because the souFs des- 
tiny hangs, upon their right solution. 

God surely has not given us different laws 
to obey to be pardoned. What he demands of 
one he demands of all. Peter declares, "Of 
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons." Acts 10:34. Neither can we think 
that the All- Wise God would give us his word, 
unfolding to us the Sheme of Redemption, re- 
calling to us that which we must do to be saved, 
and yet so complex that it can not be under- 
stood. 

The claim of the Bible is that the way is 



218 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

SO plane that "the wayfaring men though fools 
shall not err therein." Isa. 35:8. 

Then where lies the trouble? It is that, 
while the people receive the witness of men, 
they fail to receive the witness of God. The 
reason Israel was taken into captivity was be- 
cause they departed from the word of God — 
substituted the human for the divine author- 
ity. "They have transgressed the laws, 
changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting 
covenant." Isa. 24:5. Paul prophesied that 
these same things would be repeated in the 
future: "The time will come when they will 
not endure sound doctrine; but after their own 
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, 
having itching ears; and they shall turn away 
their ears from the truth and be turned unto 
fables." 2 Tim. 4:3-4. Alread}^ there were 
indications of a departure from Christ and a 
desire to follow human leaders (1 Cor. 1:10-17; 
3: 1:10), and this disjjosition continued to 
grow until the "one body" of Christ was rent 
into factions — parties and sects under differ- 
ent leaders. 

When the question is asked, "Have you 
been pardoned? Are you a child of God?" the 
answer wil] be something like this, "I hope 
so;" "I think I am;" "I don't know." If ask- 
ed the question, "Are you married?" these 
same persons would answer, "Yes," or "No." 
Why can we not be just as certain as to our 
relationship to God? 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 219 

/ We can know that we are of God. John 
declares, "And we know that we are of God." 
1 John 5:19. The true followers of Christ in 
the apostolic time did not express doubts. 
"And we desire that every one of you do show 
the same diligence to the full assurance of 
hope unto the end." Heb. 6:11. "For we 
know that if our earthly house of this taberna- 
cle were dissolved we have a building of God, 
an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." 2 Cor. 5:1, If they were so sure 
of salvation why may loe not have the same as- 
surance? Why answer in a doubtful way? 
Listening to and following after the traditions 
of men, instead of obeying God and trusting 
in his promise, is the cause of this doubt. 

// The Standard of Evidence is God's 
Word. "All scripture is given by inspiration 
of God, and is profitable for doctrine for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness; that the man of God may be per- 
fect, thoroughly furnished unto every good 
work." 2 Tim. 3:16-17. This teaches that the 
word of God is an all- sufficient rule. Why try 
to improve upon God's rule by substituting 
something else in its place? This we do when 
we accept as authoritative articles of faith, 
creeds or disciplines formed by fallible men. 
If God has not revealed in his word the terms 
of pardon then were can we go? Paul said, 
"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for 
it is the power of God unto salvation to every 



220 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

one that belie veth." Jesus said, "Search the 
scriptures for in them ye think ye have eter- 
nal life; and they are they that testify of me." 
We can see that the Bible, and that alone, is 
our guide in coming to Him for pardon. 

III There is danger in asking fw more 
evidence than God's Word, In Luke 1:18-20 we 
find an example of one who wanted more evi- 
dence than the word of God. The angel told 
Zacharias that his wife should bear him a son; 
but he doubted the message, and said, "Where- 
by shall I know this, for I am an old man, and 
my wife is well stricken in years?" and be- 
cause he doubted the angel said, "And behold 
thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak un- 
til the day that these things shall be perform- 
ed, because thou helievest not my ivords,'''' And 
so it is with humanity to day ; while God is 
plainly speaking in his word the people doubt 
and ask for "something more." Paul said, 
"Woe is me if I preach not the gospel." And 
he warned all against preaching any other gos- 
pel (Gal. 1:8-9). 

IV Instances of forgiveness. We find (Lev. 
4:22-35) when a ruler had sinned that it was 
required of him that he should offer up before 
the Loid a kid of the goat, a male without 
blemish-it was a sin offering. We are not to 
follow this law; it was for Jews, living under 
the law of Moses, not for Christians under the 
law of Christ; and yet, all over this land are 
are those who claim to be called of God, in- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 221 

structing inquiring sinners to go to the Old 
Testament to fiad what they must do to be 
saved. This is because they have not learned 
to ^'rightly handle" (2 Tim. 2:15) the word of 
God. The Old Testament, or will, contains 
the law given to the Jew; the New Testiment 
contins the law for all mankind. The Old 
Testiment "was done away" (CoL2;14;Heb. 9:- 
16-17; Gal. 3:23-25)— it was our" schoolmaster 
to bring us to Christ." We are no longer un- 
der the schoolmaster. The sacrifices which 
the Jews offered under the law (Heb. 10:1) 
could not make them perfect-they pointed to 
Christ their Savior and ours. 

In the New Testament we learn how Christ 
forgave before the kingdom, or church was 
established. A certain young man asked 
Jesus what he should to enherit eternal life. 
His trust in riches being his besetting sin 
Jesus told him to sell all he had and give to 
the poor, and follow him. This is hot the law 
of pardon to us; it failed in his case; this is a 
special case, and we make a mistake when we 
attempt to make a general application of a 
special case; for nowhere else do we learn that 
Christ or the apostles instructed others as 
this young man was. The same is true of the 
thief on the cross, and all cases of special sal- 
vation under Christ's personal ministry. 
When he was upon earth he forgave sins for 
he had this power; he raised the dead for he 
had power, but after his crucifixion, he gave 



222 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the terms of pardon — the law of the remission 
of sins — for all the world, for all time. Here 
we find (Acts 2:37-38) the law preached for the 
first time. Those who had faith in Christ 
were told to repent and be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. 
This law is for the whole world and is not to 
be changed. It contains three terms — faith, 
repentance, and baptism. 

Prof. J. W. McGarvey says: ^'God has said 
that he that believes in His dear Son with all 
his heart, repents sincerely of all Ms sins, and 
is buried with the Lord in baptism, shall be 
forgiven. Can you believe God? If you can, 
if you do, and go and do these three things — 
one with your mind; one with your heart; one 
with your body; when you have done them all 
you have to doubt the truthfulness of God be- 
fore you can doubt that your- sins are forgiven; 
and I have never in all my life, met a man who 
intelligently acted thus, that ever had a linger- 
ing doubt to the last day of his life that his 
sins were then and there forgiven/' 

V The Spirit hears ivitness with our Spirit 
Rom. 8:16 has been a puzzle to many. It reads, 
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit that we are the children of God." Jes- 
us says, "The words that I speak unto you, 
they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:- 
63. Paul says, "The sword of the Spirit which 
is the Word of God.'' Eph. 6:17, When the 
apostles preached the terms of salvation 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 223 

through Christ — admission infcothekiDgdom — 
it was the Holy Spirit speaking. (Acts 2:4; 
10;19.) Now the conditions we have complied 
with in order to pardon must be in harmon^^ 
with the testimony of the Spirit itself, found 
in God's word telling us what to do to to be 
saved; if not, then we are Dot in harmony with 
the will of God, or the Holjr Spirit. 

Let us place two witneses — the Holy Spirit, 
and the man seeking Sal vat ion — upon the stand 
and examine them. First the Holy Spirit: 

"Will you state who you are?" 

"T am the Holy Spirit.'^ 

''Did you ever inform an}^ one what they 
had to do to be saved?" '*! have spoken through 
the apostles as recorded in the word of God 
telling sinners what to do to be saved." 

"What was it you told them?" 

"I told them to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, to repent of their sins and to be im- 
mersed for the remission of sins." 

Let us examine the second witness: 

"Will you state to the world who you are?" 

"I am one seeking salvation." 

"Do you think you have been pardoned?" 

"I hope I have." 

"What reason can you give for this hope 
that you have been forgiven?'' 

' 'I go by my feelings ; I feel different, 
therefore I conclude I have been pardoned." 

"Does the word of God say you must be 
guided by your feelings?" 



224 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

*'I cannot say that it does." 

*'Your testimony is not in harmony with 
that of the Holy Spirit." 

One who has learned to trust and obey 
God, says; ^*I am a child of God. I know it be- 
cause the Holy Spirit through the word told 
me I must believe, repent and be baptized for 
the remission of sins; I have complied with 
these conditions and know that he has pardon- 
ed me." It is the Spirit bearing witness with 
his spirit that he is a child of God, "If we re- 
ceive the witness of men, the witness of God 
is greater." One who believes and does as 
God directs has no lingering doubts to the 
day of his death that he is saved; and the same 
humble obedience in living the Christian life 
after his baptism; repenting and coming boldy 
to the throne of grace in prayer for forgiveness 
and help when he goes wrong; doing his com- 
mandments, he knows he has the right to en- 
ter in through the gates into the city. 




W. B, Ckewdson. 



W. B. CREWDSON- 

William Byran Crewdson was born Sept. 22 1853, in 
Atchinson Co. Mo. Parents moved to Iowa the follow- 
ing year where he grew up. On March 29, 1874 he 
was married to Miss Marilda Grammon who has been, and 
still is, to him, a most excellent wife and a help meet in 
the Grospel, To them have been born one son and three 
daughters, namely, Dow, Ola, Emma, and Essie. Ola, 
the eldest, is married to W. 0. Frogatt and lives at 
Knoxvilie, Iowa. The rest are still at home with their 
parents and the family is a happy one. Brother Crewd- 
son united with the Church of Christ at Modale, Iowa in 
1881 under the preaching of G. B. Mullis. The first 
sight the writer got of him was about two years later, at 
Mondamin, Iowa, where he then lived on a little farm 
and where I had gone to assist the little church there, as 
State Evangelist. He lived in a little cheap house, wore 
cheap clothes, and looked cheap with his suit of yellow 
ducking and plenty of neutral territory between the bot- 
tom of his pants and the tops of his shoes. But that 
cordial Christian greeting and welcome manner soon im- 
pressed me that I had found a splendid gem of humanity 
and at once became interested in him. His career since 
then has been in perfect harmony with my impression of 
him that I carried away with me after being with him in 
his home during that meeting. 

He made his first attempt at preaching June 1886 in 
Harrison county, Iowa, near where I first met him. Was 



228 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ordained Sept 18ST; entered Drake University in Feb- 
ruary 1S38 and remained under D. R. Dungan nearly 
three school years. During that time he preached at 
Homer and Woodburn, organizing the church at the lat 
ter place, and then resigned both fields to accept work 
with the Bridge water and Prescott churches, being rec- 
ommended by the writer. He located his family at Pres- 
cott. At the end of two 3'ears he resigned Bridgewater 
and took Cromwell with Prescott for two years more. 
These churches prospered finely under his preaching. 
Prescott doubled the capacity of her chapel, and he didi- 
cated a new chapel at Cromwell. He next moved to 
Knoxville, Iowa, remaining two years, and was called for 
thethird, but under the urgent solicitation of several 
brethren of the state^ he declined Knoxville's call for 
Corning, which was then at the point of death, and mov- 
ed there in Aug 1895, where he still resides. Not many 
preachers would have declined a call from a large church 
and where he had added about 150 to its membership to 
accept one from a church of 29 members and S2200 in 
debt. But in his first meeting at Corning there were 
added 109 members; since then over 100 more (the 
church now numbering about 250) and $1,500 of the in- 
debtedness paid. He has also held some meetings out 
side during the time. One at Bridgewater, (one of h^'s 
former fields) with 55 additions, and one at Brainard 
where he organized a new church of 68 members. 
These facts will impress the reader without an}' more 
figures (which could easih* be given) that he is a work- 
man that "needeth not to be ashamed. " He was presid- 
ent of the S. W. District Convention two terms. He 
claimed to have as good a wife as any man and confesses 
that his success is largely due to her. He commands me 
also to put this in which I do upon his imperative order: 
"But to no man do I owe more for real help and encour- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 229 

agement than to J. H. Painter who has and will alwaj^s 
have my warmest friendship, one of the best friends the 
preachers of Iowa ever had." 

Bro. Cre^ dson is of light build, dark hair and eyes, 
weights about 145 pounds; five feet ten and a half inches 
in height, and utterly void of clerical airs. He is of 
sound judgement on practical questioQS, understands 
human nature pretty well and knows more than to cross it 
or get too far away from it when trying to turn it into 
paths of righteousness. His preaching is scriptural in 
matter, sound in doctrine, and earnest in manner. What- 
ever may be thought of his doctrine, his hearers will vote 
him honest and in dead earnest; and if they will but 
consult the scriptures he cites they will generally be con- 
vinced that he has good grounds for what he preaches. 
On all moral questions of a social and public charactor 
he is never at a loss to know which side to take, and 
takes it without asking anybody's permission. In all 
questions of a doubtf u'. nature he is never on the side 
next to danger. He is therefore a safe counsellor to 
thcise who desire to make a success of Christian life. 

In his busineas relations with men he is prompt and 
thoroughly honest. He will not let an unpaid bill look 
him in the face, nor will he let any one suffer for the 
necessaries of life when it is in his power to relieve. He 
is a devoted husband, a kind father, a good neighbor, a 
loyal citizen, and an all round manly man as well as a 
good preacher of the Gospel of Christ. 

J. H. Painter. 



RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Ye stiffnecked and uneircumcised in heart and ears 
ye do always resist the Holy Grhost: as your fathers did, 
so do ye (Acts 7:51.) 

Our text introduces one of the most important 
themes, within the posibility of human inves- 
tigation, one that involves the soul's relation 
to God in time and its final destiny for all 
eternity. It also sets forth one of the planest, 
propositions, namely, that men not only can 
but do resist the Holy Spirit — an act the most 
unwise and dangerous that comes within the 
sphere of human possibility. But the many 
conflicting irresponsible theories of a mys- 
terious abstract operation of the Holy Spirit 
have engulfed the world and church in a sea 
of doubt and confusion on this all important 
theme. 

Its importance would lead us to expect 
that it would be one of the planest and best 
defined subjects with which we have to do; 
but it seems not so, when we go into many of 
the so called orthodox insititutions, and pop- 
ular religious circles of to day. We there wit- 
ness the many sided and meaningless jangle 
of theological notions and inconsistencies, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 231 

which, like the cuttle fish in mid ocean, darken 
and befog the subject. Were there no remedy 
for all this in the old book, man would almost 
turn heart-sick and ready to give up in de- 
spair. A plain and definite answer as to just 
how men resist the Holy Spirit; this we find 
in the Bible. The great difficulty is men get 
wise beyond what is written and soon find 
themselves lost in the dark, theological fog of 
human speculation and man-made theory, and 
as a drowning man will catch at a straw, so 
these who are sinking in the misty theories of 
an incomprehensible abstract oparation of the 
Holy Spirit, jump at all kind of sights and 
sounds, feelings or emotions, imaginations 
or even dreams, as veritable buoys, on which 
to float out to * 'any where j ust so you are honest. ' ' 
They should accept a plain positive thus, 
saith the book of God, as the end of all contro- 
versy, doubt, and confusion and sail safely 
into the quiet and peaceful harbor — rest and 
safety. We read of God, his greatness, wis- 
dom, power and love; that he brought light 
out of darkness, order out of Chaos; that he 
created suns and systems; lifted up mountains; 
separated the valleys; divided the seas; car- 
peted the earth with green and painted the 
sky with blue;filled the fields with rich golden 
grain and all the earth with heat and loveli- 
ness; tuned all nature to sing his praise and 
glorify his great name; and with the Psalmist 
are ready to proclaim, "The heavens declare 



232 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the glory of God and the firmament showeth 
his handy work." 

Yes we read of Christ; his birth in Beth- 
lehem when was sung the sweet anthem by 
heaven's angel choir, "Glory to God in the 
highest and on earth peace good will toward 
men," the glad news to the shepherds as they 
watched their flocks on the vine-clad hills ; of 
the wise men from the east, who, guided by 
Heaven's light, came with their gifts, as a 
token of love and adoration to the Son of God, 
to whom they bowed and worshiped as the 
new born King; the world's greatest Teacher 
and man's Benefactor and Friend, who gave 
himself, his love, his life for us; of his match- 
less life, his wisdom divine, his mighty power 
as he stilled the tempest or calmed the raging 
sea or cleansed the lepers, cast out the demons, 
cooled the burning and fevered brow, and 
made the dead to rise, and controled the ele- 
ments and turned morning into day. His 
words fell like dewdrops from heaven on fad- 
ing flowers, or the Balm of Gilead on poor 
wounded hearts, and his touch was like the 
touch of God. Ah j^es, and more, vastly more, 
"we read of his matchless love, as on the cross 
he dies, with his pleading voice lifted up to 
heaven in man's behalf, "Father forgive them 
for them, for they know not what they do." 

Yes we read and accept all this from the 
blessed divine Book, and we are thrilled with 
his matchless love and life, thrilled with the 



BY IOWA WKITERS. 233 

beauty and pathos of his words, and our 
hearts are touched and tendered as we behold 
the sacrifice and cry out with the Roman- 
guard, "Surely this is the Son of God." Why 
not then beloved, when we stand face to face 
with this question, say, "Speak Lord thy ser- 
vant heareth; Command Lord I will obey." 
With this then as our motto; his word j^s our 
guide; our hearts open to receive the truth; 
relying on the everlasting promises of God. 
Let us open the Bible and read. Moses said, 
" The secret things belong unto the Lord our 
God; but the things which are revealed be- 
long to us and our children forever, that we 
may do all the words of this Law." Deut. 29:- 
29. Law reveals the will of the Law-mal:er, 
and to disobey the Law is to resist the power 
that made the Law. Isaiah said, "To the Law 
and the testimony: if they speak not accord- 
ing to his word, it is because there is no light 
in them." ReadPs. 119-130. Hence, Law must 
be revealed or we are in darkness. Concerning 
that Law, Peter agrees with this and is equally 
clear when He says, "If any man speak let 
him speak as the Oracles of God. "I Peter 4-11. 
But how resist the Spirit? or the will of 
the Spirit? Stephen said, "As your fathers 
did, so do you." But again it is indisputabl}^ 
true that for man to resist the Spirit, or his 
will, he must in some way come in contact 
with the Spirit or his will, which would virtual- 
ly be the same. To resist another, or the will 



234 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

of another, that will must be revealed or else 
no guilt can rightly attach. The will may be 
revealed direct, as when God said. "This is 
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased; 
hear ye him." The will may be revealed indi- 
rectly, though the agency of a third party: as 
when he told Cornelius to send to Joppa for 
Simon Peter who should tell him what to do 
(Acts 10:5-6; also Acts 15:7.) "And whenthere 
had been much disputing Peter rose up and 
said: Men and brethren ye know how that a 
good while ago God made choice among us that 
the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the 
word of the Gospel' and believe. " Th u s in one 
case God spake direct; in ths others through 
the agency of another. Yet each is equally 
clear and plain, with like authority and equally 
binding. When the truth is spoken there is 
harmony in all cases. Whether that truth is 
about God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit; further- 
more this principal will hold good in this ques- 
tion of resisting the Spirit as we will now pro- 
ceed to show: 

"Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy 
Spirit said ye do always resisttheHoly Spirit; 
as your fathers did so do you." He thus sets 
forth two propositions: 

(a). That men resist the Holy Spirit. 

(b). That they resist him as the fathers 
did. 

But in order to know that we resist like the 
fathers did we must know how they resisted 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 235 

Mm: and when we shall have discovered how 
they did we will know just how we may do. 

Heb. 1:1 we read: "God, who at sundry times 
and in divers manners spake in time past unto 
the fathers by the propnets." How did he 
speak? By the prophets. Now read II Pet. 
1:21: "For the prophecy came not in old time 
by the will of man: but holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 

With the light of these two scriptures to as- 
sist us. we know this: (a). That God spake 
to the fathers by the prophets, (b). That 
these prophets spake as they were moved by 
the Spirit. Again we read Gen. 6:3, "My 
spirit shall not always strive with man." And 
then, not to leave the matter in uncertainty, 
it is stated just how long: "Yet his days shall 
be one hundred and twenty years." That is 
in this particular case. But how did the Spirit 
strive in this case? Read I Peter, 3:18-20 for 
answer. "For Christ also hath once suffered 
for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might 
bring us to God, being put to death in the 
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; by which 
He also went and preached to the spirits in 
prison, which were sometime disobedient, 
when once the long suffering of God waited in 
the days of Noah, while the ark was prepar- 
ing." How did Christ preach? By the Spirit 
(v 19). When did the Spirit preach? When 
once the long suffering of God waited in the 
days of Noah, while the ark was preparing 



236 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

(v. 20). Then we read that Noah was a preacher 
of righteousness, (II Pet. 2:5) and evidently 
was inspired to preach by the Holy Spirit; for 
we must bear in mind, "holv men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit," and 
it is therefore conclusive taat he preached 
righteousness the 120 years of Gen. 6^3, speak- 
ing by the Spirit; and those who disobeyed 
His call to righteousness resisted the Holy 
Spirit. This being true forever overthrows the 
old theory that Christ went somewhere after 
his crucifixion, and while in the grave, and 
preached unto the antedeluvians. But Peter 
ascribes the preaching to Noah (II Pet. 2:5) 
while the ark was preparing (I Pet. 3:20) but 
by the same Spirit by which Christ was raised 
from the dead; namely the Holy Spirit (v 19). 

Again in Neh. 8:30, "Yet many years didst 
thou forbeare them and testified against them 
by thy Spirit' in the prophets ; yet they would 
not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into 
the hands of the people of the lands." This 
is in perfect harmon^^ with Gen. 6:3; that is, 
in resisting the prophets the council of the 
Spirit in the prophets. They resisted, or re- 
fused to give ear, therefore, their land was 
overrun, their cities broken down and de- 
stroyed, and the people carried away in cap- 
tivity. 

This recallsastatement by Paul (I Cor. 10:11). 
"Now all those things happened unto them for 
ensamples and they are written for our admoni- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 237 

tion upon whom the ends of the world are 
come." They resisted the Holy Spirit in dis- 
obeying his messages through inspired men. 
Willwebeadmonished by reading what is writ- 
ten; orasPaulsaystous, "How shall we escape 
if we neglect so great salvation, which at first 
began to be spoken b}" the Lord and was con- 
firmed unto us by them that heard him?" (Heb. 
2:3); or shall it be said of us, "As your fathers 
did so do you?'' Christ said to the apostles, 
"As my Father has sent me even so send I 
you." (Jno. 20:21). Again, "I will give unto 
you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and 
whatsoever you bind on earth shall He bind in 
Heaven." (Matt. 16:19). Again, "Behold I 
send the promise of my Father upon you; but 
tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with 
power from on high." (Luke 29:49). Again, 
"When He, the Spirit of truth is come He will 
guide you into all truth." (Jno. 16:13); again, 
to the same persons, the apostles — "But you 
shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is 
come upon you" (Acts 1:8) ; and still more "And 
they began to speak with other tongues rs the 
Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4); thus 
these men were called, commissioned and qual- 
ified by the Spioit as Christ said they should 
be; therefoae, to resist their teachings, or the 
Spirit's message through them, would be to 
resist as the fathers did; the fathers did no 
more, we do no less. And as the message 
they brought was the gospel and for all men, 



238 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

therefore, all wno refuse to obey the gospel, 
resist the Spirit. Paul said, *'My speech and 
my preaching was not with enticing word of 
man's wisdom but in demonstration of the 
Spirit and power." (1 Cor. 2:4) Here Paul 
agrees with Peter, and Christ also, and with 
Gen. 6:3, also Neh. 9:30. 

Once more read Eph. 3-15. Here Paul 
at once and forever settles the whole question 
when he positively states, that, what he writes 
as preached was to the gentiles; and by what 
power? The spirit; He calls this message the 
Gospel. It was revealed to them and us by 
the Spirit in the apostle Paul. With this agrees 
the words, "Prophecy came not in old time by 
the with of man but holy men of God speak as 
they were moved by the Holy Spirit,'' (2 Peter 
1-21;) also that the apostles "spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Spirit, "(2 Peter 1-21); 
also that the apostles "spake as the Spirit 
gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). These are 
wonderfully alike — they are identical. There- 
fore to disobey the gospel is resisting the 
Spirit — whatever our feelings or emotions may 
be. And in olden times when they resisted, 
or disobeyed, they became captives and suf- 
fered death; hence, Paul says to us, "And to 
you who are troubled rest with us, when the 
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
with his mighty angels, in Haming fire taking 
vengence on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:' 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 239 

"Who shall be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, 
and from the glory of his power. "(2 These. 1:7) 
— an awful and eternal doom. Oh reader be- 
ware! for our future destiny depends on our 
acceptance of the Gospel, "it will be a savor 
of life unto life or of death unto death. " There- 
fore, away with mysticism and doubt; rest 
your soul on the everlasting promises of God's 
Book; for the Master — our Saviour — has said, 
"Though heaven and earth pass away my 
words shall not pass away," Finally with one 
object in view — namely to help some soul into 
a better understanding and a higher concept- 
ion of his revealed wi 11 — when it can here be said, 
"All is well, come up higher," let me exhort 
one and all to believe in theLord Jesus Christ; 
confess him before men; repent and turn from 
sin; be buried with him in baptism; continue 
in the apostle's teaching and fellowship and 
breaking bread and prayer until we are ready 
to lay down the cross. We can then say with 
Paul, "I have fought a good fight I have finish- 
ed my course, I have kept the faith, hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of right- 
eousness." For we believe with Paul that 
"Our citizenship is in heaven from whence 
we look for the Lord Jesus who shall change 
eur vile body that it may be fashioned like un- 
to his glorious body." (R. V.) But now dear 
readers, and until then, with a prayer for all, 
with an adiding faith in the Son of God, a 



240 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

broader and deeper conception of Ms great 
divine love add life, and a consecrated obedi- 
ence to his will. I would in conclusion com- 
mend you to God, and the word of his grace, 
which is able to build you up and give you an 
inheritance among all them that are sanctified. 




G. W. Blrch. 



a W. BURCH. 

Among the many examples, by which the young 
men of t|ie day may be stimulated to seek paths of use- 
fulness, the subject of this sketch is one of the most 
conspicious. Of G-erman— English ancestry, embody- 
ing a combination of North Carolina and Kentucky 
blood, he is a high type of that Americanism which is 
making our Nation famous. 

He was born in Green Co., Indiana, Oct. 31, 1858. 
By reason of the decease of his mother, he was com- 
pelled at 15 years of age to assume the responsibility 
of caring for himself. None but those of like exper- 
ience, at so early an age, know what a critical turning 
point this is in the happiness and usefulness of life. 
The sequel shows that Mr. Burch shared the common 
fate in demonstrating the fact that the destiny of an im- 
mortal spirit hangs trembling upon an uncertain bal- 
ance while passing through this crisis. 

After spending three years on and near the old 
homestead as a farm employee, he sought new environ- 
ments in Taylor Co., Iowa, where an equal period was 
given to the same occupation. Returning from a visit 
to the haunts of his childhood in the Fall of '80, to 
meet the necessities of enlarged views of life, he deter- 
mined to make a heroic effort to secure an education. 

He attended district school, also Western Normal 
College at Shenondoah, and taught until Sept. 1889. 

His parents had been members of the Baptist 
church but, as a homeless boy, his contact with some 
church members had well high caused him to abanon 
the faith of his Christian parents. He had seen thcv 



244 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

same church members, who manifested such consum- 
ing zeal to a'jsist an orphan boy in getting religion dur- 
•tng the time of a revival, display equal zest to go by 
on the other side when it came to the matter of bestow- 
ing assistance in the hour of need or giving Christian ad- 
vice to guiae the steps of a wayward boy heavenward. 
These shams of churchism caused him to regard the 
profession of religion with disgust. 

In June '82 when the writer of this sketch was one 
of the state evangelists, he was called to aid in build- 
ing and dedicating a church at Grove Center in Taylor 
County. Mr. Burch was then working on a farm ad- 
Joining the sight selected for the church. He was 
pointed out to the evangelist as an intelligent and 
promising young man with a skeptical trend of mind, 
somewhat to be feared should he throw the weight of 
his influence among young people against the new en- 
terprise. 

His relation to this work has probably been an all 
round surprise. He was astonished at being solicit- 
ed to cooperate in clearing off the ground and building 
the house. No less was he surprised to find a people 
who preached only the word as a means of producing 
faith in Christ — a people who preached the -spotless 
and compassionate personality of the Master as the 
motive for all Christian conduct; and while holding be- 
lief in the Christhood of the Son of God as the test of 
fellowship, they treated him with studious but manly 
courtesy. The church was equally surprised at the 
alacrity and skill with which he responed to every call 
for assistance. At that time, the evangelist did not 
entertain the plan of the biography of G. W. Burch as 
an Iowa preacher. 

In the mean while he was intently studying the 
scriptures and comparing therewith the things taught 
from the pulpit and m the Sunday School. Under the 
pressure of the influences the sand gradually slipped 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 245 

from under his skeptical foundation. These influences 
dissolved his doubts and crumbled his unbeliefs. Un- 
der the ministry of J. P. Lucas, in Oct., 86, he made a 
public confession of his faith in Christ. As the result 
of the consecrated and efficient christian service follow- 
ing this step, in the fall of '89 he was urged and aided 
by J. T. Carter to enter Drake University and prepare 
for the ministry. To Bro. Carter's credit it may be 
said that Bro. Burch's development has justified his 
wisdom; but a man who would proceed to build a 
church without an organization, giving as his motive; 
''The community needs it," might be expected to do 
things like this. Mr. Burch took the Literary Bible 
course, graduating in June '93 at the head of his class. 
Dec. 26, '91 he was united in marriage with Miss Jean- 
ette Young of Lenox, Iowa. In his chosen companion 
Bro. Burch found a helpmeet in every way worthy of 
himself. 

As a preacher and pastor, he has been uniformly 
successful. He has labored at Bayard, Coon Rapids, 
Sac City and West Liberty, where his present paston- 
ate began Oct. 16, '97. He remamed at Sac City nearly 
three years, where a beautiful church home was erect- 
ed as a monument to his ability to over come difficul- 
ties which at times appeared insuperable. During his 
residence in the Northwest District he serve^d as Vice 
President and President. He is now Vice President 
of the Southeast District and Secretary of the Eastern 
Iowa Ministerial Association. 

Bro. Burch is the personification of a vigorous 
and stalwart manhood and, as he was a little late in 
scoring a start, we do not expect him to reach the 
meridian of his power and influence for years to come 
The biographer bespeaks upon him, his and his future 
work, the divinest beatitude of Him whose he is and 
whom he serves, 

A. JAY GARRISON, Iowa City. 



THE GROWTH OF THE DIVINE LIFE IN THE SOUL* 

"And he said, so is the Kingdom of God, as if a 
man should cast seed into the ground. And should 
sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should 
spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the 
earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, 
then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Bat 
when the Iruit is brought forth, immediately he put- 
teth in the sickle because the harvest is come." — Mark 
4: 26-29. 

The Savior spoke this lanofuage while 
seated in a small boat on historic Galilee. The 
people, eager to hear Him, thronged Him, 
compelling Him to go upon the sea that He 
might the better be heard. He leads up to 
this beautiful parable in a very skillful way, 
prefacing it with the parable of the sower, the 
illustration of the light under a bushel, and 
warning *them to be careful how they hear His 
words. However, He probably did not em- 
ploy all these in the same discourse with the 
parable under consideration, but used them in 
a series leading up to it. 

The scene of the parable is most ap]>ro- 
priate for its deep lessons. The Lord in His 
preeminence as a teacher is compelled to seek 
the sea for His pulpit. Along the banks the 
listeners catch eagerly every word falling from 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 247 

His sacred lips. Above them the skies bend in 
perfect sympathy. About them nature un- 
covered her most secret chamVers that they 
might enjoy her bounties and learn her les- 
sons. The very sands by the sea-shore 
seemed alive with sweetest music, while trees, 
flowers, and grasses joined in highest praise. 

As the Great Teacher took in this splen- 
did scene, His mission as light-bearer and life- 
giver pressed upon Him. He knew the people 
wanted to hear His very best message, so He 
taught them of the kingdom of heaven as in 
individual experience — as a life coming from 
God to man. This divine life is called the 
kingdom of heaven in order that He might in- 
struct them as to the growth of righteousness 
in the soul and to warn them not to expect the 
kingdom's growth to be too rapaid, either in 
their own lives or in the world ab large. It is 
the first of these thoughts I wish to consider 
in this discourse, under the theme, "The 
Growth of the Divine Life in the Soul. 

1. It is Secret. 

The divine life begins in secret. The 
Savior informs His auditors that the kingdom 
in its beginning is, "as if a man should cast 
seed into the ground; and should sleep and 
rise night and day." That is, as if one should 
from the very nature of his being receive into 
his life a seed of f ruitfulness, and that this 
seed, touching the kindred elements in his 
own nature should germinate and become o 



248 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

life within. This, too, while he pursues his 
natural way, for he is like the native soil 
which causes the seed of the sower to spring 
into life by its native powers. He responds 
to the demands of the seed in the out-of-sight 
place of his being. 

This is the sure test of all true spiritual 
beginning. The inner life must be touched 
before growth is possible. This touching is 
both natural and secret, and is done by the 
word of God upon the soul. Long before others 
are permitted to look upon the evidences of a 
quickened life the soul has been thrilled by 
the power of truth. It knows the truth and 
the truth is making it free. The sharp and 
powerful word entering in sends conviction to 
the heart, and forms within the beginning of 
a new life. This is why it pleased God by the 
foolishness of preaching to save them that 
believe. It was that the seed of the kingdom 
might be planted in the soul to become a new 
life. This seed covered in the deep warm soil 
of a receptive heart becomes the primary and 
secret cause of the divine life. 

But we cannot hear the germ of the nat- 
ural grain as it first thrills into a new growth, 
nor can we see the first appearance of the di- 
vine life in the renewed heart. These remain 
the locked secrets of the same divine mind 
which alone sees and knows all things. How- 
ever, in each, there comes a day of revelation. 
The husk falls from the seed, the plant pres- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 249 

ses out to greet the vision, and the child of 
God arrives at that period where he is known 
by his fruits. 

2. It is Incomprehensible. 

We do not know how the divine life grows. 
In the strong language of the parable, the 
husbandman sleeps and rises night and day, 
but the seed springs and grows up, *'he 
knoweth not how. " So life grows but we are 
unable to define the process. We see the dead 
husk of the natural seed but are unable to tell 
how much of the soil has become a part of the 
the new plant. So the word of truth — the seed 
of the kingdom — falls into the heart and man 
becomes a changed being, but we cannot tell 
how much of the man has entered into this di- 
vine seed to produce the new life. Of one 
thing, however, we are certain, and that is, 
that as the field gives of her substance to the 
developing harvest, so man yields up enough 
of himself to cause his union with truth to 
spring forth into life. 

As man feasts upon the riches of divine 
grace he becomes conscious of new impulses. 
He understands something as to what the 
Savior meant when He said, "Blesssd are they 
which do hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness; for they snail be filled," but he cannot 
know all the secrets concerning the growth 
of the spiritual forces within, no more than 
he can the physical without. He beholds 
springing grasses, golden harvests, blooming 



250 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

flowers, and ripening* fruits, and he knows 
that sun-light and spring showers have en- 
riched the earth with fulness of life; but he 
pauses in deepest revence before nature's se- 
cret chamber which he cannot enter. Like- 
wise he stands in his own heart's most holy 
place and knows that the water and light 
which Christ gives are producing abundance 
of life. Th9 old life with its sinful practices 
is giving way to newer and better thoughts. 
The things he once loved and which bore him 
down in evil, he now hates. Once he lived for 
worldly pleasure, but now he feels a strong 
desire for a larger life. He knows that truth, 
the divine leaven, has caused a new birth 
within, yet, hour remains in the infinite thought 
of him who causes the grasses to grow, the flow- 
ers to bloom, and the earth to bring forth fruit of 
herself. 

Until we are able to determine all the 
Savior meant by dwelling in the lives of his 
disciples, we. cannot understand fully the 
working of the divine life. But we do know 
the existence of a new life, for we see its 
manifestations. As we look upon the evid- 
ence of the growing life in the world about us, 
and see in growth and beauty the natural re- 
sults of life, so we behold in the one who is 
quiekeded evidences of spiritual life. When 
Nicodemus came to Jesus in the silent watch- 
es of the night, acknowledging Him to be a 
teacher come from God, he was told one of 



BY IOWA WKITERS. 251 

the secrets of the new kingdom. To enter in- 
to its joys one must be born from above. The 
wise man of Israel could not understand this, 
and was told that the divine birth was, like all 
others, incomprehensible. No one is able to 
comprehend the the developing life until it 
comes forth in birth, and then the great 
mysteries of assimilation confront him. 
So in spiritual growth. From the time 
the truth is lodged in the heart, until the 
divine harvester gathers the redeemed into 
the garner of life, the growth continues, but 
it is not revealed to us as to how the life be- 
comes so rich in good. God only, as He sees 
the most hidden secrets of life and death, 
knows this. 

3 It is a Natural Process. 

The growth of the divine life is perfectly 
natural. Our Lord expressed it in these 
words, ' 'For the earth bringeth forth fruit 
of herself." So this growth is perfectly 
in harmony with the nature of man. Man is 
by nature fitted for this spiritual union. 

This is most beautifully set forth in the 
illustration of the true vine. Jesus says, "I 
am the vine, ye are the branches: He that 
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bring- 
eth forth much fruit." It would b@ imbossible 
for the disciple to bring forth fruit if his life 
and the vine were not in close and natural 
sympathy. It requires this union between 
Christ and His disciple to produce the fruit; 



252 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

for apart from Him there can be no spiritual 
life. Note, too, that the branch is a growth 
upon the true vine and thus partakes of its 
nature. The two are one in nature and in life. 
So the divine life is notthe result of the union of 
artagonistic forces, but of principles in per- 
fect sympathy. 

Another very positive representation of 
the naturalness of this growth is seen from 
the 2nd chapter of Hebrews. In verses 10-11 
these words occur: ''For it became him, for 
whom are all things ^ * in bringing many sons 
into glory, to made the captian of their salva- 
tion perfect through suffering For both he 
that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified 
are all of one; for which cause he is not 
ashamed to call them brethren." Here 
is the plain declaration of the natural 
unity of the sanctified and the sanctifier. 
Again in verse 14, "Forasmuch then as the 
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he 
likewise took part of the same; that through 
death he might destroy him that had the 
power of death, that is, the devil." This 
same Jesus of whom these words are written 
declared Himself to be the way, the truth, the 
life; and the living bread, showing that His 
life becomes a part of the life of His followers, 
and that, too, because their natures are akin. 
These truths are not only in accord with 
the nature of man and the kingdom, but grow 
up out of the constitution of man, because of 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 253 

his kinship to God in creation; for we are told 
that "God created man in his own image." 
Being, then, in the image of God, man par- 
takes of His nature, and the divine life is seen 
to be the manifestation of God to the soul re- 
ceiving Him through the divinly appointed 
means. 

Jesus spake very sacred words to His 
followers when He told them they were His 
friends if they did what He commanded them, 
In this He gave them to understand they 
were living near to Him. They were fulfill- 
ing their natural mission. Possessing kin- 
ship to God, by birth, they could do no better 
than follow Him who came to lead them from 
darkness to light and from the power of Satan 
unto God. They would thus come to that 
divine companionship which by nature was 
suited to them. The unnatural thing for man 
is to walk in darkness, while the natural duty 
is to walk in the light. No wonder then that 
man is so happy in doing the right! It is 
what nature has fitted him to do. 

4. li is Gradual, 

The divine life is not a sudden and un- 
unreasonable growth. It is gradual. "First 
the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn 
in the ear." The only way the farmer can de- 
termine the progress of his crops is by their 
visible manifestations. But he must await 
these developments until the natural revela- 
lation comes, and this revelation will be a 



254 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

gradual unfolding of the life hidden out of 
sight in the buried graia. So the divine life 
expands until it reveals itself ia fruitfulness. 

The first thought upon this truth is ex- 
pressed in these words: "First the blade." 
By the use of this figure, Jesus shows that we 
must not expect the kingdom in its fulness 
when the life is first quickened. We are to 
look for strength of character and largeness 
of life in those who have grown to full age. 

This is also expressive of the childhood of 
the Christian life. The soul is now tender 
and capable of lasting impressions for good in 
Christian service, and is most liable to false 
conceptions- It is also the time when greatest 
care is needed in the cultivation of the spirit, 
for a wrong impression at this period means 
stagnation, if not complete extinction of the 
he Christian life. As the husbandman watches 
the growing plants shooting forth their tender 
blades, and guards them against the encroach- 
ments of evils, so the church needs to be alive 
to her mission and cultivate most earnestly 
the new born children of the kingdom. It is 
also essential for the child to place itself in 
the nursery of God where evil cannot touch 
it, to wait upon the Lord in his appointed ser- 
vices, to commune with Him in prayerful 
study of his truth, and to keep the soul open 
to diyine impressions. As new born babes 
the sincere milk of the word is received into 
the soul and strength of life results. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 255 

It is a sublimely beautiful sight to behold 
the spreading landscape with her shooting 
blades of greenuttering their silent prophecies 
of a coming harvest. Then the birds sing 
sweetest, the bells tingle in their most music- 
al rythm, the skies bend in gentlest beauty, 
and the merry hearted urchin sings his most 
enraptured song. So in the growing life of 
the faithful there is sweetest music. The sil- 
ent prophecies of the soul make life most 
happy. As he looks forward through the keen 
eye of faith to the life ripened for the eternal 
harvest, he draws near to the presence of all 
compassion and love, while his heart sings 
the sweet glad song of fellowship and trust. 

The next step in this gradual growth of 
the divine life is expressed in the following 
words: "then the ear." This means that 
after the blade comes the fuller life. When 
the ear appears we feel quite certain that 
harvest is assured. But this is by no means 
a settled fact, for the ear alwa3^s apppears in 
a very imperfect state. Its first manifesta- 
tion is a soft spike with no grain upon it. But 
the ear always indicates a fuller growth than 
the blade. 

The first thought pressing for considera- 
tion in this study is that the period of the di- 
vine life expressed by the blade is one pre- 
paratory to larger growth, and that this greater 
development can come only to him whose life 
has grown out of the tender experiences of 



256 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

early devotions into fuller manifestations of 
the divine life. The Christian life is a growth 
and not simply a death. It is not only a death 
to sin, but it is being alive to righteousness. 
Peter charges the earl}^ Christians "to grow in 
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ." Read Eph. 2:19-22. These 
two apostles understood that by growth the 
Christian attains the grace of God in his own 
life, and becomes a building of God worthy of 
His habitation. 

Not by unnatural strides is true spiritual- 
ity attained, but by growth in grace and by 
becoming a building of God. We know what 
these strong figures mean. They mean time 
and effort. Time to grow, and effort to make 
growth possible. Life is not changed at a 
breath nor is a house the productof a moment, 
but life changes from one condition to another 
like the harvest, and as the house, gradually 
grows into completeness. 

Let us learn also that the appearance of 
the ear indicates cultivation. Sins are to be 
put off, and unhampered by weights of evil we 
are enabled to run the Christian race. The word 
of God has come into the life teaching us to deny 
ungodly lusts and to live righteously and godly 
in this present world. This means that we 
are God's husbandry. Becoming thus the 
tilled field of God it is but natural that a fuller 
manifestation of life should appear. 

There is the deeper lesson that strength 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 257 

fo character and life come because of the di- 
vine life within. From the delicate blade the 
plant grows into the fuller strength of both 
stalk and ear, so the Christian passes into the 
fuller life of fruit bearing, because of the 
divine in-dwelling. Life begebs life within 
him. It takes richness of life to develop fruit, 
and it also takes time for its growth. God in 
the life does not mean that the being is at its 
strongest, but that the life resting upon the 
solid rock of faith is destined to grow up into 
perfection. We are stronger because more of 
His life has become a part our own. Our 
temptations are fewer because of this larger 
life within; for he who dwells in us in heaven- 
ly richness withstood every test of the evil. 
We are thus to gradually grow more like Christ. 
His very life inspires us to a closer walk with 
God. Breathing in of His strength we are 
enabled repel the forces of evil and walk in 
His paths. 

We are now to consider the third thought 
in the gradual growth of the divine life. After 
the blade the ear, "then the full corn in the 
ear." This is the manhood of the Christian 
life. It is also the most beautiful as well as 
the most instructive. Beautiful because of 
its strength. Instructive because of its 
mastery over evil. We need this period to 
lead us in inspiring others and to show us the 
full life. 

"The full corn in the ear" indicates satis- 



258 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

faction. No one who arrives at full age in the 
Christian life regrets the perfections of his 
being but he beholds everywhere the beauty 
of service. There has been so much joy in 
his unfolding life that when the ripened fruit 
appears he is inspired to highest praise. He 
knows now what was meant by the saying, 
''the words that I speak unto you, they are 
spirit, and they are life, "and that "he that hath 
the Son of God hath life; and he that hath not 
the Son of God hath not life." 

This not only indicates satisfaction but 
the spiritual result of the consecrated life in 
its progressive development. John shows 
this when he says, "But whoso keepeth his 
word, in him verily is the love of God per- 
fected," and that, "Whosoever shall confess 
that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in 
Him and He in God. "And we have known 
and believed the love that God hath for us. 
God is love; and he that dwelleth in love 
dwelleth in God, and God in him." 

By these verses 2Peter 1:5-8 we learn that 
the spiritual results of the consecrated soul are: 
dwelling in the love of God, God dwelling in 
us, and the abounding life of f ruitfulness be- 
cause of His mighty power given unto us. 
Thus the divine life gradually unfolds until 
the Christian becomes filled with the divine 
Spirit, bearing in himself the evidences of the 
kingdom. His life shows forth the Spirit's 
fruits. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 259 

peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, 
faith, meekness, temperenee, against such 
there is no law." Hence we behold the Spirit- 
filled life. 

5 It is Complete. 

"But when the fruit is brought forth, im- 
mediately he puteth in the sickle, because the 
harvest is come." The divine life grows into 
completeness. After the full corn the har 
vest, so after the developement of the spirit- 
ual life the harvest of the soul. There can be 
no failure for the waiting pilgrim has com- 
pleted his course in righteousness. He is 
far removed from early temptations, and is 
became a fit subject for heavenly joys. He 
waites to be housed in the heavenly dwelling 
place, where he may still grow up before Him 
who IS his life. Secure from the touch of 
evil, he rests in that fullness of love found 
only in Him. He knows the joy and peace in 
believing. He understands what it is to grow 
up into Him who is Lord of all. He feels 
within the evidence of imortlity. He knows 
and is "persuaded that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
powers, nor things present, nor things to 
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate him from 
the love of God." 

This divine life is not only complete in 
its present joys and present beauties, but in- 
its future hopes. The true Christian re- 



260 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

joices in the beauties of the present world, 
but the greatest glories await him in the world 
to be. He rejoices in anticipation of meeting 
the Lord and seeing him as He is. For him 
the love that is here inurned in earthly ves- 
sels, shall then outpour in heavenly. The 
joys that are here tinged with many sorrows, 
shall there expand into infinite delight. The 
life that here has grown unto the harvest, 
shall there be gathered into the immortal 
granery of the Most High. The heart that 
has been here touched with grief, shall there 
sing the universal anthem of eternal peace. 
The spirit that has been clothed in earthly 
temple shall there inhabit heavenly mansions 
in the paradise of God. 

The completed life finds its climax in the 
thought that because God lives in us, we also 
shall Jive in Him. Apart from Him is no life. 
But when Jesus shall appear. He is to reveal, 
"the blessed and only Potentate, the king of 
kings and Lord of Lords; Who only hath 
immortality, dwelling in the light which no 
man can approach unto; whom no man 
hath seen, nor can see." In that day of infi- 
nate revelation, we are to behold Him who 
alone hath immortalit}^, and because the soul 
has been touched with His life, it is to grow 
into the blessed imortal state. 




J. Will Walters. 



]. WILL WALTERS, 

The subject of this sketch, son of Joseph A. and 
Sue M. Walters, was born in Elizebethtown, Licking 
county, Ohio, Feb. 12, 1869. He lived in Ohio until 
1880 when, with the family, he went to Kearney City, 
Nebraska. He was about len years of age when this 
change was made, yet he considers this an important 
turning point in his life. While living at Waynesburg, 
Ohio, then but a lad, he formed companionships which 
lie thinks would have been ruinous; these ties were 
broken in the removal to Nebraska and better ones 
formed in his childhood days. 

His memories of the devotional hour in his Chris- 
tian home are precious. Although a preacher's son, he 
was not a model boy in every respect. During family 
prayers he would at times gaze longingly out of the 
window at the attractions there instead of bowing his 
head reverently in worship; yet, notwithstanding the 
fact of his youthful irreverence, he testifies, "The fam- 
ily devotions have had a moulding influence for good 
on my life." 

After two years in Nebraska he moved to Iowa with 
the family where he received most of his education, hav- 
ingspent one year in Oskaloosa College and three years 
in Drake University. 

He preached his first sermon at Fremont, la., at 
sixteen years of age. His first pastorate was at Spen- 
cer, la. Following this he served at Stuart and then 
Boone, la. He then moved to Raritan, 111., where he 
organized a church and remained two years. During 
this time a beautiful church building was erected. 



264 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

He has done excellent work as evangelist. While 
a student be added fifty to the church, nearly all of 
them Dy baptism, during a week's vacation. Two 
years ago, assisted by his sister, Mrs. I. Estelle Har- 
rington, he held a meeting at Keokuk which resulted 
in fifty additions and a discouraged church encouraged 
to go on to victory. 

He is now pastor of the church at Bedford. He has 
just closed his first year's labor there. Fifty-one have 
been added to the church; an indebtedness of several 
hundred dollars has been liquidated, the church build- 
ing repaired, and many other signs of growth in grace 
are seen. 

In August, 1895, at the State Convention he was 
happily married to Miss Margaret Violet Fisher of 
Delta. The ceremony was performed by Dean Robert 
T. Matthews. To them has been born a son — Paul 
William— and it is their hope, "praying that the Lord 
may send more laborers into the harvest," that this son 
may proclaim the same glorious gospel preached by his 
father, J. Will, and his grandfather, Joseph A., before 
him. He is faultless in his dress, careful in prepara- 
tion for the pulpit, orderly and systematic in pastoral 
work, yet young in years, has a devoted wife who is an 
helpmeet in every good work, and we hope to hear good 
reports from him in coming days. He heartily co-oper- 
ates in all our missionary enterprises, including the 
Iowa Christian Convention; commends our colleges, 
including Drake University; urges his brethren to 
support our religious papers, including the Index that 
he has helped from the first number, and is diligent in 
every good work. He is a true yokefellow in the gos- 
pel. G. L. Brokaw. 



"THE NAME QUESTION/' 

But if a man suffer as a Christian let him not he asham- 
ed; hut let Mm glorify God in this name. R. V. I Peter 4.16 . 

This subject should require no introduc- 
tion or apology. Much has been written and 
said concerning the name. Some good people 
profess to believe "there is nothing in a name," 
while others equally good believe "there is 
none other name under heaven given among men 
whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. We 
who believe in gospel simplicity and order 
contend earnestly for the name as well as for 
other gospel truths. Let us first consider the 
Importance of Our Theme. 

Its importance is apparent to all, even to 
those who have taken upon themselves the 
name of Christ. If it is impossible to glorify 
or dishonor God in wearing a name, certainly 
every child of God should be careful to wear 
only such name as will glorify Him. 

The children of this world have knowledge 
of the import of human names, and many in- 
deed have been the controversies over some 
of the least important of them. Men are dis- 
tinguished from each other by national names, 



266 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

by race names, by party names, by family 
names and by individual names. The names 
American, Anglo-Saxon, Republican and Dem- 
ocrat have become historical and are exalted 
and glorified by many. Some names are 
freighted with meaning while others are almost 
meaningless. Occasionally we find a well 
meaning individual wearing a very mean name. 
While on the other hand we find a very evil 
person wearing the name of Mr. Good. In 
the world we expect to find confusion of names 
and confusion of tongues — but in the kingdom 
of Christ we at least hope to find things de- 
cently and orderly done. But it is not always 
so. This very moment the writer received a 
communication from the Board of Church Ex- 
tension, addressed to the "Pastor or Elders 
of the Christian Church, or Disciples of Christ 
at Bedford, Iowa." Now I believe that it is 
of necessity that the board thus addresses the 
churches. Ought we not therefore to enquire 
into the cause and remove the necessity? 

In reading over the programme of the Na- 
tional Christian Endeavor Convention at 
Nashville, Tenn., I saw "Disciples' Church" 
applied to that large body of Christians which 
has ever contended that we should call "Bible 
things by Bible names.'' Again I saw 
"Christian Church" applied to some smaller 
religious bod}-. This we concede to be the 
right of every Christian organization to call 
themselves Christian, and we claim that right 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 267 

ourselves. And I believe brethreo, that we 
should contend more earnestly for our rio-hts, 
which have been divinely given to us. I de- 
sire to be known only as a Christian — I desire 
to exalt that name above every name by living 
the life of a Christian. There is one organi- 
zation which I love more than all others and 
which elaims my affections, my time and my 
talents, and that institution is the Church of 
Christ or Christian Church. In the language 
of Timothy D wight: 

"I love thy Kingdom Lord — The house of thine abode 
The Church our blest Redeemer saved — with His own 

precious blood. 
For her my tears shall fall. For her my prayers 

ascend. 
To her my cares and toils be given — till toils and cares 

shall end." 

For three quarters of a century have we 
contended against sectarian shibboleths and 
the "language of Ashdod." We believe in 
speaking words which become sound doctrine. 
We therefore discard all human appellations 
either for the church or the individual. We 
are seeking to glorify god in the name as well 
as in life, and believe that in "this name 
Christian" we can glorify God, and exalt the 
name of Him who died for us. While in wear- 
ing unscriptual titles we dishonor God, dis- 
grace our King, and cause confusion and divi- 
sion among the children of God. "This name" 
Christian is applicable to both the church and 
individual. 



268 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Let us consider the importance of the 
name as 

Applied to the Church. 

Let us observe in the first place that there 
is no difference between the Christian Church 
and Church of Christ. There can be no more 
difference between them than there is between 
a hay stack and a stack of hay. The}^ are 
therefore identical. Christian Church is the 
adjective form while the other is the preposi- 
tional form. The name of Christ is found in 
either expression — Christ(ian) Church or 
Church of Christ. The adjective ending (ian) 
being equal in value to the preposition (of). 
This the law of language allows. In either 
expression the honor is given to Christ our 
Lord who buildeth the Church (Math. 16:18) 
and God is glorified. 

In the scriptures we find the expression 
*'My Church" (Math 16:18); ^'Church of God" 
(Acts 20:28; I Cor. 1:2); "Churches of Christ" 
(Ro. 16:16); "Church of the First-born" (Heb. 
12:23. Thus we find the Church is God's 
Church or Christ's Church. Not Abraham's 
church or John the Baptist's church, or Dis- 
ciple's church. Neither is it my church, nor 
your church, nor yet our church, but Christ's 
church "who is the Head of the body, the 
Church; who is the beginning, the first born 
from the dead, that in all things He might 
have preeminence" (Col. 1:18). Thus we see 
the church of the New Testament is Christ's 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 269 

Church and that no violence is done to the 
word of truth in calling the Church Christian. 
Christ is not dishonored but is the rather 
glorified in this name. Under the figure of 
the Bride and Bridegroom (Rev. 18:23, Rev. 
21:2; Rev. 21:9) the church should wear 
Christ's name. We urge the importance of 
this name then because it is scriptural. Paul 
said, ''Let us walk by the same rule, let us 
mind the same thing." Phil. 3:16. Chiling- 
worth said, "The Bible alone is the religion of 
Protestants." If therefore, we are to be 
guided by the Bible as "our only rule of 
faith and practice," we must "call Bible things 
by Bible names." 

The Church of Christ is a divine institu- 
tion. Its King is divine. The Church today 
that is identical with the Church of Christ in 
apostolic times, in name in faith and inpratice 
is the church of Christ to day. We are safe 
in affirming this proposition. lb would be 
perilous to deny it. Any other name than 
that divinly given has no foundation in the 
word of God. 1 Cor. 3:11. The Bible is silent 
as the grave about Roman Catholic church, 
Luthern church, etc., save that Jesus said, 
"Every plant that my heavenly Father hath 
not planted shall be rooted up." Mat. 15:13. 

The rooting process is already in actual 
operation. The divine leaven isnowleavening 
the whole lump. The little stone cut out of 
the mountains is destined to fill the whole 



270 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

earth. The Kingdoms of this world are 
rapidly merging into the Kingdom of Christ. 

Jesus prayed, "That they all may be one, 
as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that 
they also may be one in us: that the world 
may believe that thou has sent me." John 17:- 
21. God will yet answer the prayer of His 
Son. 

This leads us to the consideration of an- 
other important reason for urging the name 
Christian: It is common ground. It is wholly 
undenominational. All churches claim to be 
churches of Christ. 

They could all unite therefore upon this 
name without sacrifice of truth or principle. 
The question of the desirability and reasonable 
ness of Christianity has been decided. The 
question now is, to discover apian whereby all 
Christians can be united in one body having 
but one Spirit, and that Spirit, the Spirit of 
Christ. 

Just recently the Ham's Horn has been 
ofiering a hundred-dollar prize to the one who 
would devise the best creed upon which Chris- 
tendom could unite; and while we do not believe 
the name question, or creed question, would 
entirely solve the problem of Christian unity^ 
we do believe that they enter into the problem 
and these two great questions, scripturally 
answered, would be a long stride in the right 
direction. We would humbly point \^i^ Ram's 
Horn, and all such, back to the creed which 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 271 

God gave to the world nearly nineteen centur- 
ies ago. The creed, which is divine, to which 
neither saint nor sinner has ever rightfully 
found the most trivial objection and upon 
which all Christendom could unite without the 
slightest goading of conscience: That creed is 
Christ. The Name Qaestion is a part of the 
creed question. They stand or fall together. 
If all churches were known as simply church- 
es of Christ, how much of envy and jealousy 
and strife and bitter persecution and opposi- 
tion would be done away with, and how much 
more of good the church would accomplish. 
How much more of the spirit of love and the 
spirit of Christ would prevail. Churches 
would be established and buildings erected 
simply as a matter of convenient location in- 
stead of doctrinal difference and opinion. Peo- 
ple would go to the nearest church instead of 
passing, as now they do, a half dozen houses of 
worship on the way to the church of their 
choice. How sad it is to see, in a town of 
3,600 inhabitants, a large number of Christian 
people going nearly a dozen different ways to 
worship one God, all claiming to be followers 
of the same Christ. Is it not enough to cause 
the Christian to blush and the skeptic and in- 
fidel to scoff and jeer? And when we stop to 
consider the vast amount of good that could 
be accomplished with less expenditure of 
money and waste of energy, is it not exceeding 
sinful to be thus divided? With what speed 



272 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

this world could be taken for Christ and its 
sins overthrown if we but had a united 
church! When the church of Christ lays 
aside the carnality and the sin which doth so 
easily beset us (the sin of division) and in one 
might}^ phalanx goes forth in the name of 
Christ, all wearing the name Christian, to bat- 
tle against unrighteousness, there will be no 
fort formidable enough to resist its mighty 
power. Truth itself will be mightier and the 
church of Christ, panoplied in the whole armor 
of God, will appear beautiful and "terrible as 
an army with banners" (Song 6:4). Let us 
now consider the importance of the name 
question as 

Applied to the Individual. 

At the time the apostle uttered these 
words (1 Pet. 4:16) the name Christian had be- 
come widely known; the Jew, the Greek, Rom- 
an, Syrian, bondmen and freeman had espous- 
ed it, and many were being put to death for no 
other offence than taking upon them the name 
Christian. They were called upon to recant 
and to blaspheme that worthy name by which 
they were called, and upon their refusal to do 
so were most cruelly tortured and put to death. 
In the time of Nero, 64 A. D., the Christians 
were well known as a distinct sect. Tacitus 
tells us that "in their death they were made 
the subjects of sport; for they were covered 
with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to 
death by dogs; or nailed to crosses; or set fire 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 273 

to, and when day declined were burned to 
serve for nocturnal lights. ' ' They were sawn 
asunder, they were thrown into caldrons of 
burning oil, they were put in cages and oil 
poured on them and set on fire in order to 
light the streets while Nero stood on a balcony 
of his palace playing a violin. We see them 
in the arena, with the amphitheater crowded 
with scoffing spectators, waiting for hungry 
beasts to spring upon and devour them. They 
were not suffering as "murderers or thieves 
or evil doers, nor as busy bodies in other 
men's matters." 1 Peter 4:15. They were 
dying for that "worthy name by which they 
were called." James 2:7. When life was 
promised to them if they would recant, the 
answer would as oft be given, "I am a Chris- 
tian." The death of the aged Poly carp. Bish- 
op of Smyrna, occurred 155 A. D. When call- 
ed upon to curse Christ he said, "Six and 
eighty years have I served him and he has 
done me nothing but good; and how could I 
curse him — my Lord and my Savior." Refus- 
ing to deny the name he was burned to death. 
Ponticus, a youth of 16, and Blandina,a3^oung 
girl, are beautiful examples of heroic faith. 
Tortured from early morn till night they fail- 
ed to move them. They remained "steadfast 
and immovable.^' Each time life was prom- 
ised, the poor girl, Blandina, would say, "I 
am a Christian, among us no evil is done." 
All this for the name Christian. Truly did 



274 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

those early martyrs glorify God in "this 
name" and will reign with Him in glory. 
Josephus says, in speaking of Christ, Bk 2, 
Part 3, p. 379: "And the tribe of Christians 
so named from Him are not extinct at this 
day." 

We read in Acts 11:26, "And the disci- 
ples were called Christians, first at Antioch." 
It makes no difference whether this name was 
given in derision as one of the contemptuous 
nicknames of which petty scoffing Antioch was 
so prolific. It is the grandest name that mor- 
tal can wear. It is the synonym of every 
virtue. It shines with a holy luster to-day. It 
will shine brighter to-morrow. Upon this 
name the Holy Spirit set His seal when He 
said— through Peter, "But if a man suffer as a 
Christian let him not be ashamed; but let him 
glorify God in this name." 

' 'King Agrippa said— Almost thou persuad- 
est me to be a Christian." Acts 26:28 The miss- 
ionary to other lands said— "I was glad to be 
known only as a Christian." A Congregation- 
al preacher once said before the American 
Board of Foreign Missions — "I haven't a dol- 
lar to spare in making Congregalionatists, but 
who would not give all in missionary work to 
make Christians?" A certain Presbyterian 
once said— of Mr. D. L. Moody, "I thank God 
brethren that Mr. Moody is making neither 
Presbyterians — Baptists or Methodists, but 
simply Christians." In complying with the 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 275 

conditions of salvation in Apostolic times men 
and women became Christians only. The same 
conditions complied with to-day will make of 
individuals the same as in those days— Christ- 
ians only. To become something else fhan a 
Christian, other conditioQS must be complied 
with. We value the importance of the name 
Christian for the individual for the same reas- 
on as for the name of the church— because it 
is common ground. Wesley said- -"I would 
that party names and party creeds were for- 
gotten, and that all would sit at Jesus' feet." 
Luther said; "Call yourselves not Lutherans 
but Christians." Upon this name all Christ- 
ians could unite because all of every faith pro- 
fess to be Christians. Other names are super- 
fluous and sectarian. Whilethe name Christian 
is indispensible and non-sectarian. We now have 
Jewish Christian, Gentile Christian, Roman 
Catholic Christian, Episcopalian Christian, 
Lutheran Christian, Presbyterian Christian, 
Methodist Christian, Baptist Christian. Draw- 
ing a line between the human names and the 
one divinely given, we have simply Christians. 
*'And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness 
and all thy kings thy glory and thou shalt be 
called by a new name (not names) which the 
mouth of the Lord shall name." Isa. 62:2. 

Other names are forbidden — "Now, this I 
say, that every one of you ssaith, I am of Paul, 
and I of Apollos ; and I of Cephas ; and I of Christ. 
Is Christ divided? Was Paul Crucified for you? 



276 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" 1 
Cor. 1:12-13. 'Tor ye are yet carnal: for 
whereas there is among you en v-ying and strife 
and divisions are ye not carnal and walk as 
men?" 1 Cor. 3:3. See also Ro. 16:17. 

Clinging to humanisms in religion is the 
one great hindrance to the unity of God's peo- 
ple to-day. Why should the followers of Jesus 
contend for such things since it is evident 
that they are an evidence of carnality, even as 
the worship of the golden calf by the children 
of Israel. Additions or subtractions are for- 
bidden in God's Law. See Rev. 22:18, 19. 
And Jesus says, ''In vain they do worship me 
teaching for doctrines the commandments of 
men." Math. 15:9. In view of these script- 
ures and facts does not the name question ap- 
pear important? 

Where is the person having the Christ- 
spirit can say "there is nothing in a name?" 
when we lead in Math. 1:21. "And thou shalt 
call His name Jesus, for he shall save his peo- 
ple from their sins." See Acts 4:14. 

There is salvation in the name Christian. 
It is the synonym of every virtue. It is the 
divine or family name which all Christians 
should wear and seek to exalt. Eph. 3-15. 

It is the most significant name the child 
of God can wear. It is not enough to be a dis- 
ciple (a learner). A Christian is a believer: 
Acts 16-30: A penitent believer: Acts 2-38; A 
confessed believer: Ro: 10-10; A praying 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 277 

believer: Ro. 10-13; A baptized believer: 
Math. 28-19; Gal. 3-27. 

Brethren let us seek in doctrine and in 
life to exalt **this name" Christian. Let us 
not be content with being called Christians. 
Let us be Christians. Let us live more like 
Jesus lived. Thus will we glorify God in this 
name and we will be * 'transformed into the 
same image, from glory to glory even as from 
the Lord the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18. 

Are you, friend, seeking to live a Chris- 
tian life, but wearing an unscriptural name? 
We plead with you for the sake of Christ to 
heed the warnings of God, cease to be one of 
those who either consciously or unconscious- 
ly are helping perpetuale division among 
God's children. Be a Christian in name as 
well as in life. If you are a Christian and 
wearing a human name, the name you wear is 
a mis-nomer — You are more than a Presby- 
terian or a Methodist or a Baptist— You are a 
Christian. Then why not glorify God in this 
name? Be a Christian — nothing more and 
nothing less. This is your privilege. This 
is your duty. Then — 

"Let party names no more, the Christian world oe'r 

spread; 
Gentile and Jew, and bond and free, are one in Christ, 

their head. 
Thus will the church below, resemble that above; 
Where streams of pleasure ever flow, and every heart 

is love." 



278 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Sinner friend—You have never confessed 
your faith in the Son of God. You are daily 
denying the Name of Christ by rejecting Him 
whose blood trickled down on Calvary's cruel 
tree. Jesus has said; "He that denyeth me 
before men, him will I deny before my Fath- 
er and before his angels." Sooner or later, 
"every knee will bow to him and every tongue 
confess that he is Lord to the glory of God 
the Father." It is a noble thing to confess 
Christ. The great day of reckoning with all 
men is approaching. It may be nearer now 
than you think. There is a work of subtrac- 
tion goingon upon your life. Each hour brings 
you nearer the relentless enem5\ You will 
need the Christ to uphold you in Death. You 
will want Him to confess your name before 
the Father. li you are ashamed of Him now, 
He will be ashamed of you hereafter. In one 
of our large cities an earnest pastor plead 
with a young man to give his heart to Christ 
and unite with the church; but of no avail. 
He said, "While here I desire to mingle with 
certain young people who care not for the 
church. When I return home I will heed 
your advice for I knowit is good — but not now. ' ' 
The way to his room led across the railway 
track, and, one night when crossing, an express 
train struck him. horribly mangling the man- 
ly form of which be had been so proud. In a 
dying condition he was carried to his room, 
he sent for the pastor. When he came he said 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 279 

to him — *'My bodily agony is nothing compared 
to the anguish of soul. Oh if Ihadonly heeded 
your council! Oh if I were only a Christian! 
If I were only a Christian!" If you are a Christ- 
ian you are ready to live — you are ready to 
die. To be a Christian I would rather than 
have the choicest diadens of earth, or the 
wealth of Golconda, or to have ambition write 
my name in her very zenith. 

This should be the desire of all To Be sim- 
ply and truly a Christian, 

To wear His name — His Cross to bear 
Our highest honor this — 
Who nobly suffers with him now. 
Shall reign with Him in bliss. 

''If any man suffer as a Christian let him 
not be ashamed but let him glorify God in 
this name." 




U. H. King 



O. H. KING. 

The subject of this 'sketch is the eldest son of T. H. 
and Elizabeth (Higbee) King. He was born in Madison 
county, 111., March 23, 1862. In 1874 the family re- 
moved to a farm ilear Drakeville, Iowa, where O. H. re- 
ceived a common school education. After attending a 
term at the Southern Iowa Normal School, he began 
teaching, at the age of nineteen in the country schools. 
For about five years he spent his time teaching 
and attending school — four terms of the latter at the 
Southern Iowa Normal and two at Oskaloosa College. 
At the age of seventeen he became a Christian, under 
the ministry of H. A. Northcutt of Drakeville. Soon 
after uniting with the church he became desirous of 
preaching the gospel, but his timidity and sensitiveness 
kept him for some time from speaking or praying in 
public. 'Tis amusing to hear him tell of his first effort 
to speak in the prayer meeting. He was soon given a 
class in the Sunday school and later served as superin- 
tendent, in which capacity, he became a very effective 
worker and speaker. Still he did not preach, for, as 
he expressed it, he didn't know how to begin. Hetold 
his desire to D. W. Hastings, who was then preaching 
at Drakeville, and received this reply: "Obe,the way 
to preach is to preach. Select a subject, think about 
it, write down your thoughts, send an appointment and 
do your best. G-et ready; let me know and I'll makean 
appointment to** you where I preach." Following this 
advice he preached his first sermon at FLoris, Dec. 27, 
1884. From that time he preached as he had opportun- 
ity until September, 1887, when he accepted the work 



284 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

at New Sharon and Union Mills. In September of the 
preceeding year (1886) he had married Miss Addie 
Bunton, of Drakeville, and had settled on the old home- 
stead, where he had expected to farm for a support un- 
til he could find permanent employment intheministry. 
His mother's death in October foUowlag his marriage 
so changed his plans that he removed to Oskaloosa, 
where he took studies in the college until he began his 
work at New Sharon and Union Mills. Here he suc- 
ceeded in almost doubling the membership. His next 
field of labor was at Bladensburg, where he held a 
meeting which resulted in more than fifty additions to 
the church. He remained here a year and nine months, 
n speaking of his work there he once said, "The church 
^-nd I expected great things to follow that meeting; 
both were disappointed." At the close of 1891 he re- 
moved to Harlan, dividing his time during the follow- 
ing year between that church and Manning. Then for 
three years the Harlan church took all his time. Here 
he did a work of which much can be said in praise. 
From a small and discouraged membership the church 
grew to be 200 strong, and contributed $150 during the 
last year of his ministry there for missionary purposes. 
Bro. King now resides at Colfax, where he has labored 
since the fall of 1895. Speaking of his work at C. 
he recently said, "Here 1 have had one of my hardest 
battles; the town was worldly, the church was badly 
in debt and sadly lacking in spiritual life." As the re- 
sult of his labor, however, the debt has been provided 
for, the membership has grown from 115 to 250, and has 
become more spiritually minded. Besides preaching 
at Colfax he visits the school houses surrounding and 
preaches at one of them every Sunday afternoon. He 
attributes much of his success tothis outside work. In 
addition to his pastoral work he has assisted in a num- 
ber of protracted meetings, in which he has been very 
successful. Bro. King is not an orator nor a sensation- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 285 

alist, but a plain, practical gospel preacher. He under- 
stands the plan of salvation and can present it clearly 
aad forcibly. He not only pleads for a c^undness of 
faith, but for a life of love and good works as well. He 
is a strong advocate of missions and says he will not 
preach for a church that refuses to contribute for the 
spread of the gospel. Bro. King owns a pleasant home 
in Colfax, where he and his good wife have the respect 
and good will of the people. Three children, a girl and 
two boys, add mucli to the home joys. 

Bro. King is a constant worker, a true man and 
will show full proof of his ministry. 

D. W. Hastings. 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOME. 

li^ou will probably find nothing new in 
this sermon but something practical, some- 
that you may use on Monday as well as on 
Sunday. We shall talk of that which concerns 
each of us and each reader is invited to take 
the sermon as personal and apply it to self. 

A long time ago before there was any 
church or state, God founded the home. Not 
only is the home the oldest social institution, 
but it is one of mighty importance. - We may 
praise our Bible Schools, our Young People's 
Societies, our social organizations, our educa- 
tional institutions, our national government, 
but what would be the fate of any or all if the 
home were broken down? The neighborhood 
is simply the sum, good or evil, of the homes 
which constitute it. The church prospers or 
languishes as the home-life is pure, strong, 
Christlike or the opposite. The nation can 
never rise above its homes. As goes the home 
so goes society, the church, the nation. 

We should make more of the home. No 
other institution, however good, should be al- 
lowed to oppose God's purpose in founding 
the home. Without entering into any discus- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 287 

sion of the merits or demerits of lodges, clubs, 
circles and similar organiz^ations, we are safe 
in saying that whenever these rob the home 
of its just dues they are positively evil. The 
man who spends his evenings in lodge and 
club need not wonder that his boys drift into 
bad company and disgrace themselves from 
lack of fatherly companionship and example. 
The woman whointrusts her home and children 
to servants while she gives her attention to 
clubs and societies, however good, need not 
wonder that she loses her influence over her 
own children. And the man and woman who, 
rather than forego the pleasures of society, 
rather than obey God's law and become parents, 
destroy their own unborn children; these are 
murderers and should expect the fate of mur- 
derers except they repent. Listen to a plain 
statement of truth: The willful, illegal taking 
of human life is murder, whether that life be 
just conceived or f ullv developed. I offer no 
apology for stating the truth. Men and wo- 
men in all ranks of society, many of them en- 
rolled as church members, are mocking mar- 
riage and the home. Shining in society, do- 
ing church work, growing enthusiastic over 
reforms can never cleanse the blackened souls 
of those who practice this monstrous crime. 

Even church work may be misunderstood 
and be so abused as to hinder home duties. 
The woman who belongs so fully to church so- 
cieties, and whose time is therebv so taken 



288 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

that her beds go unmade, her house unswept, 
and her children unwashed, has need of 
Christian training. The church that is so 
poorly taught, or so irreligious, that the ex- 
penses must be raised by the sisters at the 
expense of their home-life is a robber-church. 

We need social pleasures: we profit by 
meeting each other in legitimate social func- 
tions: we should give much time and toil to 
the church, but there are many times when 
we can best serve societj' and the church at 
home. Home is a splendid place for the culti- 
vation! of our social nature and for the devel- 
opment of Christian character. 

Let us maKe more of our homes and our 
homes will make more of us. Many who are 
zealous for Christ, anxious to lead souls to 
Him. anxious to enlighten and uplift the neg- 
lected, could find a splendid field for effort 
beneath their own roofs or in their own back 
yards. I believe in active church work: there 
is great need of fuller consecration to the 
work of uplifting and saving the lost all around 
us. What I urge is that the home receive its 
rightful attention, that those nearest us be 
not neglected. 

I wish to say a word for those women who 
are prettv generally ignored or only pitied: 
women whose voices are not often, perhaps 
never heard in great conventions: whose 
names are seldom if ever seen in print: yet 
women whose names are in the Book of Life; 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 289 

the home-keepers, whose toil, caring for the 
home and the little ones, precludes their en- 
joying the great meetings, or speaking from 
the platform or through the press. These 
women are seldom mentioned. The}' are so 
"common," ''Any one can keep house and care 
for children." Yet these are the women 
whose sons rise up and call them blessed: 
some of them the mothers of presidents, and 
some of them, better still, of preachers. I 
thank God for a mother from this class. 

Home is a testing place. Xo other place 
offers the same test of our Christian character. 
People who seem to be good Christians in 
public, in church work, in business, and even 
in politics, fail when the home is applied to 
their character. People act most naturally at 
home: there is less restraint there. If I act 
the baby, or do some small mean deed in pub- 
lic, it will be known; but my wife and children 
will hardly tell thou^-h I play the baby and 
act ever so mean at home. People sometimes 
put on their good manners, and their pious (?) 
demeanor, just as they do their Sunday-go- to- 
meeting clothes. They are not for home use. 
The extreme smallness of some men can 
never be detected until we get ''snap shots" 
and phonographic records of their home life. 
Men who will endure almost anything in busi- 
ness rather than loose a customer, will grum- 
ble at their wives because the meat is under- 
done, or overdone, or because the biscuit, or 



290 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

pie is not up to par. 

Women will scold their husbands for be- 
ing five minutes late to a meal, when, if com- 
pany came half an hour behind time only- 
smiles and soft words would be in evidence. 
The young ladies testimony in the consecra- 
tion meeting does not mean so much as the 
way she treats her mother at home. There 
are many things in the home to try us. 
Children will be childish, we are ourselves 
sometimes. We come home tired, nervous, 
headachy; there are disappointments; the 
family may not understand us; we can find 
much to make us cross and ugly if we will. 
If we are thoroughly Christian in the heme 
we shall most likely stand the test outside. 
If, when I leave this world, my wife and 
children can calmly and deliberately say that 
I was a Christian it will mean more than 
the obituary written by a fellow preacher, or 
the resoulutions of a whole convention. 

The gospel recognizes the importance of 
a home, recognizes that we should give it 
great attention, and that there we meet some 
of the greatest tests of our Christanity. The 
book has much to say of the home. Jesus 
honored the home of Palestine by his presence 
and, by hisdefenceof marriage, threw around 
all homes where the gospel was sent his pro- 
tection. The letters written to Christians do 
not neglect the home. Read in Paul's epis- 
tles the solid doctrine as to marriage, hus- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 291 

bands, wives, and children. The proper 
positions of husband wife and children are 
clearly shown. Let us read a few verses: 

'* Wives be in subjection to your own hus- 
band as unto the Lord. For the husband is 
the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head 
of the Church being himself the savior of the 
body. But as the Church is subject to Christ, 
so let the wives also be to their husbands in 
everything." Eph. 5:22. Some masculine 
women dislike such teaching and speak evil of 
Paul, but let us remember that Paul is not the 
author but only the writer. God knows wom- 
an's true position, and she who obeys God will 
be blessed. Some men may read the forego- 
ing verses to their wives and then close the 
book, but let them read on — where the hus- 
band obeys, the wife will find obedience easy. 
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ 
also loved the church and gave himself up for 
it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed 
it by the washing of water with the word, * ^ 
* * Eph. 5:22. Read on to the close of the 
chapter; then read Col. 3:18,19. Where both 
are Christians there is real joy in obedience to 
these injunctions. If Christians would marry 
Christians there would be less confusion, and 
more happiness in the relations of husband 
and wife. 

The parental authority and the duty of 
children to obey are clearly proclaimed: 
* 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for 



292 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

this is right. Honor thy father and mother 
(which is the first commandment with prom- 
ise), that it may be well with thee and thou 
mayest live long on the earth." Eph. 6:1-3. 
The parent is not left without a timely admo- 
nition: ''And, ye fathers, provoke not your 
children to wrath; but nurture them in the 
chastening and admonition of the Lord." 
Someone has said that we have as much gov- 
ernment in the home, now as of old, but that 
whereas the parents once governed the child- 
ren, the children now govern the parents. 
God's way is right, and, in a Christian home, 
the children will obey their parents in the 
Lord. Boys and girls, when they unite with 
the church should have a sensible pastor who 
will teach them that there is as much true re- 
ligion in obeying father and mother in the 
Lord as in going to th.e services and having a 
part in any church work. 

In the Christian home, love will reign, 
and here, as in the church, love is the great 
power to unify and harmonize. Love leads to 
mutual helpfulness, to mutual forbearance, to^ 
the fullest fellowship. In the home there is » 
work to be done, and every opportunity to 
serve Christ by serving each other in love, 
and lifting burdens from shoulders that are 
heavy laden. There will be many times when 
we need to exercise Christ-like patience. Our 
loved ones have faults; so have we. There 
are two bears needed in every home and where 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 293 

these have liberty there will be no parents 
acting like bears; hear and forehare are the 
bears we need. Not only should we toil for 
each other, and bear with each other, but we 
should have full fellowship in joys, sorrows, 
plans and secrets. Many young people drift 
from the home from the lack of fellowship. 
Parents think their children's joys and griefs 
and pains too trivial to engross their mature 
thought. The boy's enthusiasm is looked up- 
on as foolish, or his heartache is ridiculed. 
Small wonder he looks elsewhere for sympathy. 
There may be a lot of practical religion 
shown in helpiag the boy with his windmill, 
or the girl with her doll, or in soothing the 
heart that is sad at the loss of a pet dog or 
bird; and this practical Christian sympathy 
may someday bind the child to the old home 
when seemingly greater means fail. If God, 
the All wise, so humbles himself that he takes 
an interest in our little joys and sorrows, our 
plans and work, why shall we not imitate 
Him and be interested in our children's 
affairs? O, parents keep close to the boys 
and girls! Lead them to so trust you that 
they will come to you in joy and in sorrow, 
with their perplexities and their aspirations, 
and pray that you may ever hold the position 
of exemplar, advisor and sympathetic friend. 
Boys and girls, trust your parents. They 
may be old fashioned and not "up to date" 
but they love you better than you can know 



294 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

until you are parents. Tell them all; don't 
have secrets from them; it's dangerous. 
Take them into full partnership. They may 
not ask you to tell all; but they will appreciate 
it and you will gain immensl}" by the mutual 
confidence. Do nothing, say nothing, think 
nothing, you would not like father and mother 
to know. Let the silly and mean keep from 
their parents their secrets, but you be Christ- 
ians with your parents and in days to come 
you will thank God for it. 

It should be unnecessary to say to hus- 
bands and wives that they should be full part 
ners in joy, sorrow, plans, secrets, money, ev- 
erything. Yet we hear of men who never con- 
fide their plans to their wives, and women 
who have ' 'dear friends' ' to whom they impart 
secrets which they withhold from their hus- 
bands. Such living is not marriage; it is 
mockery. Christianity applied changes all 
this and makes partners of husband and wife.- 

Christianity in the home will make it beau- 
tiful, whether it be the home of plenty or of 
poverty. Beautiful, Christ-like living, will 
beautify the poorest surroundings. Does it 
not seem queer that people want to go to heav- 
en with all its t^eauty, when they can see no 
good in the beautiful here? From the way 
some live you would suppose that a very plain 
heaven would suit them just so there was gold 
in plenty. We owe it to our loved ones to 
make the home attractive. We need not be 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 295 

rich nor extravagant to do this. There is 
practical religion in beautifying the house and 
home grounds, so that the young folks will 
not have to search elsewhere for beautiful 
things. There should be flowers in yard and 
garden; flowers in the house for winter. We 
may serve God in planting flowers and shrubs 
and trees. Let us have plenty of books and 
papers, suitable for young people. Shut out 
the sensational, the false and impure, by pro- 
viding abundance of the good. Let there be 
music in the home. Have instruments if able, 
but by all means sing, or if you can't sing 
make a joyful noise. Have swings and ham- 
mocks and games — no cards; leave them to 
the saloon, and gambling den, and do not start 
your children to the devil by the card party 
at home. Study to make home attractive. 
Plan for each other's pleasure and that of 
those who visit your home. It is worthy your 
prayers and earnest care. 

In all our home-life, in our work, our 
bearing and forbearing, our fellowship, our 
striving to keep the home attractive, let us 
give the dear Master his rightful place. With 
our duties of various kinds many of us neg- 
lect the Master himself. Let each member of 
the family realize that it is through God's 
grace that we have a home, that it is only by 
Divine keeping we are enabled to be true as 
members of the family. We need the quiet 
**morning watch." If each member of the 



296 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

family would consecrate the first few minutes 
of the day to Bible. reading and prayer, how it 
would sweeten and bless the day! And then 
at breakfast time, or in the evening, or both, 
what a season of refreshing is that spent in 
family worship! In our busy rush of today 
we have lost more than any save God can tell 
by neglecting the family altar. No matter 
how good your home, it would be better if 
once, at least, each day you as a family, ac- 
knowledged God, thanked, praised and peti- 
tion him. Call it "old fashioned'' if you will, 
it is Christian fashioned. 

Let us make our religion real in our homes. 
We may lament that the state is not Christian, 
that the church has many members who are 
far from ideal. We may feel unequal to the 
task of reforming wherever reforms are need- 
ed. Let us at least have a little circle where 
Christ rules all things. Let our home be ac- 
cording to God's will. 

Then the Bible School teacher and the 
preacher will have less to do for our children 
and will be able to devote more time to the 
children of evil homes and to the homeless. 
We will, under God, lead our own loved ones, 
one by one, to Christ, and pastors, and evan- 
gelists will simply co-operate with us, instead 
trying to counteract our bad influence. Let 
us pray, pray, pray, and watch and labor that 
our home be as Jesus would have it. 

E'er long the home circle is broken. The 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 297 

boys and girls one by one depart to establish 
homes of their own. Death enters and loved 
ones cross the "mystic river." Our home is 
broken and our hearts ache. Within a mile of 
where I write is the place that for years was 
my home; There is the old square house and 
the red barn and the orchard and the grove; 
there we used to gather nuts, there we used 
to skate. Across the road stands the old 
school house with its memories of happy boys 
and girls, of lively games, of spelling and 
singing schools and lyceum. I go to the old 
sitting-room door. The evening lamp is light- 
ed. Father is setting by the fireside with his 
paper, though is not reading much. Mother 
sits opposite, with her knitting. One brother 
sits at the organ, while the other stands and 
sweeps the bow across the strings of the vio- 
lin, I step in and set down and the circle is 
complete. The evening passes ; favorite tunes 
are played, songs ar e sung, apples are eaten, 
matters of interest are discussed. The hour 
for slumber arrives. The Book is read and 
we kneel while father prays. We rise and 
go to our bed-rooms. "Good-night." 

My heart throbs. I have been looking 
through the space for over twelve years. I 
I look again to-day, there are strangers at 
the fireside. God bless them in their home; 
it is ours no longer. The violin and organ 
are silent, the players are separated by many 
n;Liles. He who sat with paper in hand is an 



298 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

enfeebled old man, waiting, in his distant 
home, the final summons, and she who sat op- 
posite has laid down her knitting to take up 
her crown. 

I sit here alone and write something that 
interests me vastly more than it can my read- 
ers; yet you too, may look back to similar 
scenes. Thank God, I have a home of my 
own, with one that is true and good as its 
center, and dear children to love and serve. 
But soon it too will be broken. Soon it will 
be a memory to some one. God help me that 
my children may ever remember a Christian 
home! As I write the tears will come, but 
over all is the rainbow of hope, for the Son of 
righteousness shines through my tears. This 
world does not furnish the perfect home, but 
soon we shall cross the threshold of the 
Father's houss and be "at home with the 
Lord." There we shall find permanance. 
There we shall enjoy the beauty and the music. 
There we shall unite with the whole family of 
the redeemed in lovingand serving our Father 
forever. What a gathering that will be! 
Brother, sister, let us be steadfast; let us be 
faithful in all the great and small things of 
life; let us trust on, toil on. We are on our 
journey home; home, home, sweet home. 

Sinner will yon go to that home? Will 
you prepare for it by giving your heart and 
life to the dear Savior now? by being true to 
him, trusting and obeying him? Say just now. 




J. E. Denton. 



], E. DENTON. 

Concerning the life and labors of J. E. Denton, we 
clip the following from a sketch published July 27, 
1895, in the Pacific Christian of San Francisco, Cal.: 

"The success of the great meeting just closed at 
Sacramento by Bro. Martin, whose portrait appeared 
in our last issue, was doubtless due as much to the 
management of the pastor in charge at that place, as to 
the effective work of the evangelist. As a fitting se- 
quence to the one of last week, our readers will be glad 
to see in this number of the Pacific CAr/sfia/i the portrait 
of J. E. Denton, president of the State board of the 
Christian church of California. Bro. Denton is a native 
of Iowa, having been born at Hampton, March 27, 1856; 
a graduate of Drake University in 1882, being the first 
alumunus of the Bible department of that well-known 
institution, he has been successfully engaged in evan- 
gelistic and pastoral work in Minnesota. Iowa, Dakota, 
Washington and California. 

His two years work at Vacaville, assisted by an 
able band of brethren, has resulted in more than doub- 
ling the membership of a church forty years old. It 
has the best building, the largest membership^ the larg- 
est Sunday-school and C. E. Society, and the only 
Junior Endeavor Society in the city. 

Bro. Denton resigned at Vacaville some months 
ago, and located with a smaller congregation at Sacra- 
mento, against Ihe advice of his best friends who re- 
garded Sacramento as an impossible field on account of 
the location of the church. 

The eight weeks meeting conducted by Bro. S. M. 
Martin closed June 30th with over 100 additions. One 
week later a building committee was appointed whose 



302 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

first work will be to secure a central location. Bro. 
Denton's work is always so quietly done that one would 
scarcely know it is he who is doing it, but he secures 
the universal harmony and prosperity of the churches 
for which he labors." 

After the above was published Bro. Denton re- 
mained to complete a pastorate of three and one -half 
years and saw the church housed in a beautiful building 
in the exact center of the city; then declining an invi- 
tarion to continue another year, he returned to his na- 
tive state, where several calls awaited him; he had ac- 
cepted the first work affered him, which was at Clarion, 
where he now resides. 

He married Lizzie M. Randall, daughter of J. T. 
Randall of Minnesota. His family consists of a wife and 
five children: Louis, Paul, Grace, Linder and Vera, all 
members of the church except the baby — a native 
daughter of California, four ytars of age; the eldest 
child — Joseph — who died a few years ago in California, 
was also a devoted member of the church. Before go- 
ing west Bro. Denton was pastor at Adel for three 
years; but he will be best remembered by Iowa readers 
as State Evangelist, which position he held two years, 
adding over 500 to the church. He held the same posi; 
tion in California two years and was afterwards presi- 
dent of the California State Board for two years. He 
also held two public debates in California. 

His mission on the Coast was a success; but, as he 
was born and educated in Iowa, labored in this state 
for years, and expects to work here the remainder of 
his life, he is rightly enrolled among our preachers. 
He is faithful in his work as a pastor, brave, strong and 
earnest in presenting the truth. Long may he live and 
be the instrument under divine guidance of turning 
many to a life of obedience that they may, with him, 
have their names enrolled forever in the "Book of Life." 

G. L. B. 



PURE RELIGION, 

There are a great many varities of relig- 
ion; so many that I could not begin to name 
them all; and some of them so mysterious 
that I could not understand or explain them. 

When I was a very young preacher, a 
pious old man asked me if I believed in "ex- 
perimental religion." I was humiliated that 
I did not know what he meant by "experi- 
mental religion," but since I have found out 
that nobody else knows I do not feel so badly 
about it. That was in the days when people 
tried to "get religion" and when any kind of 
experiment was justified if the seeker suc- 
ceeded in "getting through." Then, a com- 
mon question was, ''Are you enjoying re- 
ligion?" Now, as some one has facetiously 
remarked, the question is "How do other peo- 
ple enjoy it?" How does your wife, or moth- 
er-in-law, or neighbor enjoy your religion? 
How do your clerks, employees or political 
opponents enjoy it? I like the expression 
"e^7ery-day religion". It sounds practical 
and business-like. It is a rebuke to Sunday 
religion, or any other religion that is like a 
beautiful cloak, worn only on great occasions 
and then laid aside for safe keeping. "Ev- 



304 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ery-day religion" is not much different from 
our subject — ''Pure Religion." 

James says, "Pure religion and undefiled 
before God and the Father is this: To visit 
the fatherless and widows in their affliction 
and to keep himself unspotted from the 
world." There are three words in the orig- 
inal that are translated "pure" in the New 
Testament: One means virtuous; another 
means sincere; and the other means clean. 
The third is the word James uses— clean re- 
ligion, that is not filthy; not diseased, but un- 
defiled, unspotted. There is a great deal of 
spotted religion in the world. People who 
are religious in one community, but who cease 
to be so when they move to another, have rea- 
son to be very suspicious of themselves. A 
certain lady brought a church letter from the 
East Vut failed to identify herself with the 
Lord's people in her western home. Years 
afterward her little boy came across her let- 
ter and read it, and then excitedly announced: 
"Oh, Mamma, I found your religion in your 
trunk upstairs." It is needless to say that 
her religion was old, spotted, faded, yellow 
and mouse-eaten. 

There are some people who are very re- 
ligious at church but no where else. They 
have experienced a change of heart, so they 
say, but they have not experienaed a change 
of home-life and business conduct. They are 
only converted in spots. A religion that con- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 305 

sists of Sunday-white-wash and is neglected 
for six days of the week, gets very spotted 
and unhealthy. A religion only in force one 
day in seven is not even one-seventh pure. A 
young man who went west as a professed 
Christian was asked on his return a couple of 
years later, "How did you get along with 
your religion out there?" "Oh, first rate," 
he said, "Nobody ever suspected that I was 
a Christian." Christ said, "If any man would 
come after me, let him deny himself and take 
up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23.) Ac- 
cording to that definition, the young man was 
not a follower of Christ at all. The require- 
ment was not to take up the cross weekly, 
monthly, yearly, occasionally, or semi-occa- 
sionally, but "daily." That is every-day relig- 
ion. There is another scripture that brings 
out this same feature in a difierent way: 
"Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in 
the name of the Lord" — not what you do on 
Sunday, but whatever you do on any day of 
the week. The distinction between secular 
and sacred is a device of Satan. All duties 
are sacred. Plowing corn is just as sacred 
as preaching the gospel. An anvil may be 
consecrated or a puipit desecrated. In many 
minds religion has been chiefly associated 
with sick beds and grave yards, and the great 
question has been, "How did he die?" Gar- 
field set us a good example when he informed 
the priest who wanted to pray with him to 



306 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

prepare him for death, that he did not need 
his assistance. He had made his preparation 
in life like the good Scotchman who, when dy- 
ing, declined the offer of his daughter to read 
and pray with him: "No, daughter, I hare 
thatched the roof in fair weather. I do not 
need to work in a storm." 

Some have the idea that religion is insur- 
ance against fire in the world to come. Even 
if that were true, '^honesty is the best policy" 
and it is not very honest to wait till the goods 
are set on fire before you take out insurance. 
Religion is something that makes a man bet- 
ter here. It makes us better fathers, moth- 
ers, children, neighbors, members of society, 
citizens of our government; better prepared 
for all life's righteous undertakings. 

"Pure Religion," etc. This language is 
addressed to Christians, not to the world. It 
tells, not how to get rid of spots, but how to 
keep them off. If we are spotted with the 
leprosy of sin, it will never remove the spots 
and make us Christians to do such good works 
as providing for the fatherless and widows. 
* 'The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all 
sin" when, in God's appointed way, we come 
in contact with that blood. But this direction 
of James' is how to keep well — by healthy ex- 
ercise. This text gives the result of being a 
Christian, not the process of becoming a 
Christian. If the question were, "What is 
first rate farming?" a good answer would be, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 307 

"one hundred bushels of corn to the acre, or 
thirty bushels of wheat to the acre and the 
soil left free from weeds — in good condition 
for the next crop." That is the way James 
defines pure religion. It is to visit the fath- 
erless and widows in their affliction, etc. He 
does not mention all the results of being 
a Christian, but some of the most meritor- 
ious acts that are most apt to be neglected. 
He mentions a few of such acts but enough to 
test the genuineness of any man's religion; 
enough to show that pure religion requires 
doing something for humanity. And these 
deeds must be from proper motions to con- 
stitute pure religion: For Paul says, "If I 
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I 
give my body to be burned, but have not love, 
it profiteth me nothing." It is not the exact 
thing that we do but the love that prompts it 
that makes it puerly religious. It is no credit 
to make money by taking every conceivable 
advantage of his fellow men and then seek to 
gain the approbation of the world by leaving 
wealth to benovelent objects, wnen he can no 
longer use it himself. The truly religious 
man administers on his own estate; he never 
passes by on the otherside when suffering 
humanity holds out its hand for help. 

The New Testament is not a code of laws 
but a book of principles. James uses the 
fatherless and widows as examples, because 
in ancient times, they were, as they are yet 



308 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

in heathern lands, the most helpless and 
pitiable creatures in society. If James had 
lived in this age and country, he might have 
held up for our sympathy and care the moth- 
erless rather than the fatherless children: For 
Christianity has done so mucn for women, that 
now she fares better with her fatherless chil- 
dren than does a father left with his mother- 
less ones. Jame's advice would apply to all 
such cases. We are to visit the afflicted, not 
simply to call and see them because they are 
widows, or fatherless, or motherless, but to 
look after them, provide for their wants and 
relieve their sufferings. 

The law of love is the most flexible and 
yet the most binding of all laws. It contains 
requirements made by no other law; and 
many things lawful in themselves are not ex- 
pedient for me under the law of love. It is 
imposiblc to regulate every act by code, al- 
though many legislators have attempted it. 
It is said that Arabian commentators of Mo- 
hammed attempted to make a law applicable 
to every relation in life; they published a code 
containing seventy-five thousand rules, but 
cases soon arose to which none of these rules 
would apply. Christianiiy undertook to rule 
man through love. Dispensations changed; 
codes and constitutions are annulled, or 
amended; but love is infinite and eternal; it 
waters the roots of the Christian tree and 
brings forth virorous branches fragrant and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 309 

fruitful. If we have love for Christ, we have 
everything, and will follow him unquestioning 
anywhere Christ says, *'The great command- 
ment is love," and Paul says, *'The loye of 
Christ constraineth us." It is the supreme 
constraint, compressing all our energies into 
one channel — the doing of God's will. Heath- 
en, just starting from their idoltry toward 
Christianity, needed the decalogue. Would- 
be criminals needed the strong arm of the law 
behind them, and the penitentiary before them. 
But love is the fulfilling of all other laws of 
God. "Perfect love casteth out fear." "What- 
soever ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye even so to them." This "Golden rule" 
is not like Confucius' "Silver rule" in negative 
form ; it includes the good deeds we would 
have done as well as the evil that we would 
have undone. Upon each person is placed the 
responsibility of interpreting this law. I 
have sent men to the penitentiary because I 
believed it best for the community. But Vic- 
tor Hugo represents the charitable bishop as 
shielding the convict, Jean Valjean, and giv- 
ing him the silver he had stolen from him. 
To have turned the criminal loose through in- 
difference to his sin would have been heinous ; 
but he sought to save the sinner by buying 
him to be good ; his act was dictated by the 
purest charity notwithstanding his ideas, ac- 
cording to my judgment, were impractical; he 
and I handled the same Word differently. 



310 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

There is no passage in the Bible that mi- 
nutely describes our duties under all circum- 
stances — unless everything is included in the 
command to love; there is no place where we 
are told in unchangeable laws just how often 
we must meet, how many sermons we must 
hear, or how many dollars we must pay. Our 
love of Christ must decide us and constrain 
us in regard to duty. When you have some- 
thing more important to do than to go to 
church don't you go; but be sure about it; 
don't make your decision lazily, carelessly or 
selfishly; let the largest, broadest love influ- 
ence your action. If you have something 
more important to do with your money than 
missionary work, don't pay a dollar for such 
purposes; but be sure it is love and not stingi- 
ness that dictates the decision. The question 
of worldly amusements is to be settled in the 
same way. There is no command, "Thou 
shalt nob attend base- ball games on Sunday;" 
or, "Thou shalt attend the Christian Endeav- 
or;" but the love of Christ will enable us to 
decide where we can do the most good. This 
law of love may seem to be too lax or liberal; 
but if we undertake to violate it, we fall un- 
der the strictest, severest condemnation. 
Love is the greatest incentive to action; and 
inaction means death. 

This law of love is binding on nations as 
well as individuals. Pure religion is neces- 
sary to healthly national life. The nations 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 311 

that have perished and are perishing have had 
spots on their religion. It is sin that makes 
national suffering necessary; and when the 
spots become so great that they wholly ob- 
scure the Sun of Righteousness, the nations 
go down in darkness. Happy is the nation 
that profits by her chastening and cleanses 
herself from unrighteousness before it is too 
late. It is not easy to repent; it must be 
preceded or accompanied by suffering. After 
the Egyptians had held the Israelites in bond- 
age hundreds of years, the Lord did not sim- 
ply allow them to set the captives free; He 
saw it necessary for Egypt first to be punish- 
ed by awful plagues. Afterwards, Pharaoh 
not only let the people go, but the Lord put it 
into the hearts of the Egyptians to allow 
themselves to be "spoiled" by giving such 
lavish amounts of gold to the people whom 
they had so bitterly oppressed. 

After Solomon had reduced his own nation 
to a condition of slavery to support the mag- 
nificence of his court, it was morally impossi- 
ble for his son and successor — Rehoboam — to 
accede to the demands of the people to make 
their burdens lighter. Providence had doom- 
ed his kingdom to division and he made the 
exact reply necessary to bring on the disas- 
ter: *'My father made your yoke heavy and 
I will add to your yoke: my father chastised 
you with whips but I will chastise you with 
scorpions." 



312 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Again, in their history, the children of 
Judah, needed chastening; and God, to cure 
them of idolatry, sent them into captivity for 
seventy years to an idolatrous nation ! It did 
not follow that their oppressors were blame- 
less; and God judges them also by subjecting 
them to a still stronger nation that set the 
people of Judah free and helped them to re- 
turn to their native land. 

Who can fail to see the same principles il- 
lustrated in God's dealings with the enemies 
of our own country? Able English states- 
men had advocated the American cause in 
vain. God reserved the right to judge our 
oppressors, which he did by the disasters of 
war. The wrongs were too great to be right- 
ed in any peaceable way. 

Afterwards, even our own beloved nation 
could not be left un judged for its wrong; and 
we felt His chastening rod in His way of abol- 
ishing slavery. Great men, though opposed 
to the iniquity of holding men as property, 
thought the evil remediless except by the use 
of moral suasion on slave owners: so they 
plead for compromise and peace; but the na- 
tional sin was too deep to be atoned for with- 
out blood— the best blood of our land. 

In the midst of our rejoicing at victory 
over Spain, we sorrow at the sacrifice of hun- 
dreds of our sons at Santiago; it had to be. In 
that very city in 1873 the Spaniards massacred 
fifty-three of the crew of the Virginius — a 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 313 

steamer carrying the American flag and sail- 
ing in English waters at the time of the cap- 
ture. Instead of sending an army to punish 
the murderers, we accepted an apology and 
money as an indemnity. If we had done our 
duty then, Cuba would have had the freedom 
long ago, and the destruction of the Maine 
never could have been. It is at least a re- 
markable coincidence that Hamilton Fish was 
the Secretary of State that made the compro- 
mise with Spain, and his grand-son, Hamilton 
Fish, Jr., was one of the first to fall in this 
war for Cuban liberty. If our punishment 
has been severe Spain has been "Cervera"! 
And what may she not yet expect to suffer: 
for her religion has become so spotted that 
there is not a sound patch left on her guilty 
hide? May we profit by her downfall! 

It is true in national as well as individual 
life that we reap as we sow. We have in our 
land now, a giant, in comparison with which 
slavery was a sleeping infant dwarf — I mean 
intemperance, the source and incitor of all 
other crimes. This giant is growing with 
fearful rapidity. AccordingLito the statement 
of the United States International Revenue 
department, the consumption of alcoholic 
liquors in 1860 was six and one-half gallons 
per capita; in 1890 it had increased to fifteen 
and one-half gallons. We fear this evil will 
go on until, as the result of some of the wrongs 
which it has perpetrated, there shall be such 



314 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

pestilence, calamity, or war as to cause the 
people who have been responsible for it to be 
astounded at their own indefference. It is a 
great mistake to suppose that when that time 
comes the drunkards and their famalies will 
be the only sufferers; it is never true in re- 
gard to other, calamities; why should it be in 
this? The cholera may start in the slums, but 
it never stops there; the plague-stricken 
region widens rapidly until the whole city is 
involved; the tent, the cottage, and the palace 
are infected, and clean and unclean go down 
before the fell destroyer. It may be so with 
this plague which slays a thousand where 
cholera slays one. 

This view may seem discouraging. It 
may be asked, "What is the use of struggling 
against the inevitable? If revolution must 
come, and only the Providence of God can 
save us, why not sit down and allow the natural 
development of events?" To us the answer 
is plain: The greater our indifference the 
greater the needed revolution will be. It will 
not be needed for the individual; the drunk- 
ard gets the sufferings of hell day by day, to 
say nothing of his future exclusion from the 
kingdom of God. Dives was punished after 
his earthly existence was ended; but God's 
displeasure at the sins of nations can only be 
manifested to them during, their life- time. 

Our government must be chastened for 
the part it has taken in helping this iniquity 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 315 

along. How was it in regard to Egypt? 
Moses was directed to ask Pharaoh to let the 
Hebrews journey into the wilderness, but at 
the same time the Lord said, "I am sure the 
king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a 
mighty hand." That is one authority for ask- 
ing what will not be granted, and what will 
only add to our insults and injuries. 

We may ask of our legislators relief but 
their answer will be the lash. "What do 
Moses and Aaron know about politics?" "Why 
do you let the people from their works?" 
"Get you unto your burdens." "Make the 
same number of bricks as before and gather 
your own straw." Pharaoh may make some 
conciliatory promises, sometimes, but his 
heart will soon be hardened; he may promise 
freedom but he will see to it that technicalities 
neutralize his apparent efforts to carry out 
temperance reform; but when his utter heart- 
lessness and wickedness are fully exposed, 
and all who are responsible for the ravages of 
rum have suffered in the way that will most 
benefit the generations to come, then God will 
bring out his people "with a mighty hand and 
with a stretched out arm," and a nation will 
join in Miriam's song — "The Lord hath tri- 
umphed gloriously." 

Pure religion is necessary to pure and 
permanent prosperity. The nation is com- 
posed of individuals, and the sooner we cleanse 
our lives of all spots of impurity, the less lia- 



316 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ble are we to subject our nation to suffering, 
and the greater will be the blessings poured 
out upon our national life. Let us recognize 
and honor God, not only in the church, but in 
our homes, in the school- room, Id business, |in 
every way, on every day, realizing to our full- 
est capacity the glorious promise, * 'Blessed is 
the nation whose God is the Lord." 




D. A. WlCKIZER. 



DAVID A. WICKIZER. 

David A. Wickizer was born in Illinois; but came 
when a young man to Iowa, which since has been his home . 
He was a student of Drake University during the first year 
of its history and shared in the privations and difficulties 
of that early period in its existence. After spending six 
years in the University, he graduated from the Classical 
and Bible courses in '89. During his college course, he 
was a very successful preacher and man of affairs. It was 
generally understood that he could take an unpromis- 
ing field which others had abanded and make it a finan- 
cial success, and give it permanent organization. He 
was never without work as he did not wait for a call, 
but did the work that he saw was needed. 

The first year after his graduation, Mr. Wickizer 
spent at Melborn. It is characteristic of him, however, 
that he has regarded the world as his field, and this 
year he held meetings at Baxter and Maxwell, at each 
of which places strong churches were organized. 

In June, "90, Mr. Wickizer was united in marriage 
to Miss Alice Morgan who had just graduated in the 
classical course from Drake University. She has al. 
ways been a willing and efficient co-worker in all his 
enterprises. 

The next five years were spent in pastoral work at 
Oskaloosa. During this time, a fine stone church was 
built, costing $17,000, a parsonage was purchased and 
all lines of church work were greatly quickened. Meet- 
ings were also held in other places which resulted in 
adding more than two hundred members to the churches. 

His work with the East Side church at Des Moines, 



320 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

which is now in its third year, has been marked by no 
less success than elsewhere. A neat brick chapel has 
been erected with a seating capacity of about twelve 
hundred, and equipped with all the modern appliances 
for effective church work. We are sate in saying that 
no other church in the state has been built for an equal 
amount of money that is so commodious and has so many 
conveniences. Mr. Wickizer as a church builder is 
a success. A thorough knowledge of human nature, 
combined with a liberal disposition and personal con- 
secration, constitute him necessarily a leader of men. 
At our state convention held at the East Side church, 
Sept., 26-30, '98, he was elected State Superintendent 
of the Sunday-school and Y. P. S. C. E. He enters upon 
his work with the confidence of his brethren and the 
determination to win. Prof. O. T. Morgan 



PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY. 

"For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of 
thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble brush 
gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure 
of his heart bringeth forth ihat which is good; and an 
evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth 
forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the 
heart the mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, 
Lord, and do not the things which I say." — Luke 6:44-46. 

The discussion of this subject must not 
lead us away from the thought that God is the 
fountain from whence the Christian religion 
draws its every supply. The theoretical part 
of the Christian religion belongs to God; but 
the application of it belongs to man. To this 
work men are divinely called; not in some 
mysterously way, but by the plain invitation 
of God through his word. 

Jesus said ''I came not to call the righte- 
ous but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:32. He 
came to this world that he might extend that 
divine invitation, given through revelation by 
holy and inspired men. He came to call. That 
word call, comes from the word "kallao," and 
means to invite, to bid. In Matt. 22:9 we read, 
' 'Go ye therefore into the highways and as many 
as ye shall find bid to the marriage." The 



322 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

word bid in this scripture is the same as the 
word call in the preceding scripture. Jesus 
came to this earth to bid men and women to 
come and partake of the feast that God pre- 
pared for them in the Christian life. This 
is a divine invitation. 

We read in Romans: that the gospel is 
the power of God unto salvation, and in the 
sixth chapter of John we read: that men 
aredrawn unto God through teaching. That is 
why Jesus said to the apostles, ''Go ye intoall 
the world and preach the gospel to every 
creature." These men were to reach the 
heart, through the understanding; and for 
this reason the gospel says' 'Go;" for this reason 
that divine invitation is given to the world. 

The application of this Gospel is of ^ital 
consequence. Has not God bound the souls 
of men in eternity by his Gospel? We all rec- 
ognize this, but do we understand that the 
work of the Master belongs to the multitudes 
and not to a few only? By applied Christian- 
ity, is meant that it shall be applied to every 
individual member of the church. By practi- 
cal Christianity is meant that every individual 
member shall practice the things taught in 
the Word of God. 

The strength of an institution is in direct 
ratio to the utilization of its forces. Many 
churches are weak because they do not gather 
up the fragments. Jesus said, "Gather up 
the fragments that none be lost." Let us 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 323 

make a spiritual application of this miracle. 
There was but little with which to begin, but 
Jesus blessed the loaves and fishes and there 
was enough for all and much remained. The 
apostles said, "Send the multitude to tha 
city," but Jesus said, "Give ye them to eat.'^ 
Brethren, we have too long been sending the 
multitude away to be fed elsewhere. We have 
been sendiug them to the city of Odd-fellow- 
ship, to the city of Free Masonry, to the vil- 
lages of the poor-house, to the cities of chari- 
table institutions. 

The church has too long cried, there is 
not enough, send the multitude away. Yet 
with the blessing of God upon the little we 
have, let us distribute it to the multitude and 
there will be enough for all; then gather up 
the fragments, and lo, your strength numeri- 
cally and spiritually has been greatly increas- 
ed, and that by practical Christianity. 

A man of wealth had left many acres of 
land to his people with houses and barns and 
pastures, with herds and flocks, and giving 
his instructions he departed for a period of 
years. They were to improve until he came 
again. He left them the promise that at his 
coming he would reward them greatly. After 
he had departed the people said, "What a 
splendid man he is, worthy of great honor; so 
they built a beautiful temple to his name and 
here they congregated to tell of his goodness, 
to read his letters and to sing his praise. But 



324 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

look yonder at the fields; his herds and flocks 
are neglected; many die; others are diseased, 
and many are starving for food, and famishing 
for water. Are the fields cultivated? Yes, a 
few acres, but briars and weeds and brush- 
wood cover much of the land. An unknown 
messenger reports the fact to the owner who 
returns on a day when not expected. He 
makes inquiry for the people and is told, they 
are congregated in the house yonder, where 
they are met to praise the man who left them 
the farm. Now what will that man do? We 
know he will drive off these miserable tenants 
and give his lands to others, and we say he is 
right. 

Did not our Lord leave to us a great field 
and say, improve until I come? Before many 
witnesses, and before God, with the thought 
of eternity upon our souls, how much are we 
cultivating the field that God has left us? 
Many and beautiful and costly are the tem- 
ples we have builded in honor to the Christ; 
with songs of sweetest melody we praise him; 
many are the eulogies pronounced by tongues 
of the most gifted orators; but what are we 
doing to cultivate the fields, and care for the 
flocks the Lord has left us? As Christians we 
answer we are doing what we can. 

But the ear that heard the cry of the blood 
of Abel is ever listening to the voice of the 
downtrodden and distressed of earth. To the 
Lord's question: ''Are the Christian people 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 325 

doing what they can?'' The shivering iliclad 
multitudes answer no; the guant starving 
faces upturned to heaven answer no; the 
thousands of our young men wearing the 
marks of criminals, answer no; multitudes of 
our young women, who have, because of want, 
or because of the neglect of Godly men and 
women, sold their virtue, answer no; The very 
throne of God is caused to tremble with the 
million voices of men in blindness and heathen 
darkness crying to God saying: no, luo; your 
people never sent the Gospel to us; we never 
heard^of the love of Jesus. 

Before God have we the real conception 
of our Master's work? It is right to praise 
Him assembled in the house of God, but this, 
is not doing the work of Christ. It only pre- 
pares for His work. Jesus called his disciples 
together and taught them, but be said: Go! Go! 
Go into all the world ; go into the byways and 
hedges; go, go, give the multitudes to eat! 
That is practical Christianity. We are 
trying to build up our spirituality but spirit- 
uality is the result of energy. 

The dynamo moves slowly but it gathers 
no electricity; now it whirls many revolutions 
in a minute and a stream of electricity flows 
through the wires, causing lights to flash in 
basement, parlors and garret, in streets and 
alleys. This light comes from energy. Let 
the energy decrease and the light grows dim, 
let the energy increase and the light grows 



326 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

brighter. Let us put forth an energy to do 
the work God has given us and we will gather 
to ourselves spirituality; and like the dynamo 
we will send it forth and its light will be seen 
by those sitting in spiritual darkness. The 
world is full of electricity and the dynamo 
gathers it, but does not create it, so men 
gather spirituality as a result of Christian 
energy. 

I am heartily in favor of the legislation of 
men, but more heartily in favor of the marked 
application of the principles of the Christian 
religion. A sound doctrine will never fail to 
cry against the saloon, brothel, theater and 
gabling den. These are the infernal pits and 
whirlpools into whose vortex hundreds are 
caught and held, while they are stifled in their 
poisonous gases and fumes. The classics tell 
us of a lake called Avernus, from which are 
constantly arising poisonous gases. Birds of 
passage in attempting to cross it are caught 
by the vapors, and, in spite of their efforts, 
are overcome and drop upon its slimy bosom ; 
where may be found birds, from the kingly 
eagle to the little sparrow. 

Many of our cities are lakes Avernus in 
which sons of toil enter, as ''birds of passage," 
only to be caught in the meshes of a poisonous 
den whose surface is like a silver sea, but 
whose atmosphere is foul and black and deadly 
with corruption and crime. Have we not been 
trusting in our legislators, hoping for laws 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 327 

that would lessen crime and corruption? 
Have we not listened to and supported the 
great political forces of our nation during the 
past? and have not all these promised better 
legislation and purer morals? And j^et with 
the most powerful telescope you might sweep 
the political heavens and you would scarcely 
discover a single star of morality that did not 
shine in that same political realm a century 
ago. How long shall we listen to the Siren 
song of deception that comes from the legisla- 
tion of men, men who have baffled our aims 
and darkened our hopes? Yet my criticism is 
not so much against legislators as against men 
who dwell in the tabernacles of God. Indeed 
men who have to do with politics have shown 
more wisdom than we who have to do with 
Christianity. There is scarcely a voter in the 
United States that is not personally solicited 
concerning his political faith at least once a 
year; yet many live and die in this great na- 
tion of ours who are never personally ques- 
tioned about their faith in God and in Christ. 
Where is the remedy to be found? I answer 
only in an applied Chrsitianity. Too long 
have we recognized Christianity as something 
invisible. Let us grasp the thought of God 
and recognize the Christian religion as a 
mighty force capable of destroying, and capa- 
ble of controlling the forces of men and na- 
tions. Practical Christianity may be manifested 
in words as well as in deeds. Language is a 



328 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

most powerful instrument both for good and 
evil. With it Virgil wrote his "Charms" and 
with it Cicero, from the forum, thrilled the 
multitudes. The pen of Harriett Beeeher 
Stowe, the voice of men like Webster and 
Douglas, were made eloquent, and language 
set on fire a righteous indignation and slavery 
was destroyed. But the same words differ^ 
ently arranged are to be found in Paine' s 
"Age of Reason" as are found in the inspired 
book of God. The one written by a pen dipped 
in the fires of hell, the other with a pen of fire 
from off the altar of God. 

But a practical Christian will not fail to 
guard his words, whether spoken or written. 
The name of a practical Christian will not be 
found upon a document as an endorsement of 
of a principle upon which he cannot ask, and 
expect, the blessings of God to rest. In Col. 
3:17 we read, "Whatsoever ye do in word or 
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." 
I may, m the name of the Lord, sign a peti- 
tion for the erection of an almshouse or for 
the destruction of some evil resort; but, be- 
ing consistent as a Christian, I cannot sign a 
petition and write with my name, "In the 
name of the Lord Jesus," when that petition 
seeks to legalize a gambling den; notwith- 
standing that no law of our country is, per- 
haps, more successfully violated than the law 
prohibiting gambling. 

Infidelity to the marriage relation is prov- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 329 

ing a curse to home and state, yet, is there a 
man so void of reason that he would sign a pe- 
tition asking for the establishment of one of 
those abominable houses in our city, and at 
the same time praying the blessing of God up- 
on it? Sense and reason answer no. Is there 
a man who before Almight}" God and in the 
presence of many witnesses confessed his 
faith in Jesus and promised to do all in his 
name; and is that man's name to be found 
written with his own hand, upon a document 
asking this city to legalize the saloon? The 
most blighting and damning influence that has 
ever gained a foothold upon this earth is the 
saloon. It is the enemy of the home, of the 
school, of the church, of the state and nation, 
and yefc professed Christian men will dare to 
stretch one hand forth and look into the face 
of Almighty God, while with the other hand 
they take a pen from one of the devil's angels 
and sign a document for the legalizing of an 
institution whose business is, and ever has 
been, to make brutes of husbands, to cause 
wives to be beaten, and children to be starved, 
and homes to be made wretched. If, sir, as a 
Christian man you have signed such apetition, 
go to night and on bended knee ask God's 
blessing to rest upon that institution, that is 
an antechamber of hell itself, then on the mor- 
row go ask for that document, find your name 
and beneath it write "In the name of the Lord 
Jesus." Let such document be read before 



330 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the devil, and his friends will laugh; 1st it be 
read before the throne of God, and angels will 
weep. No we cannot be tools in the hand of 
the devil, and at the same time instruments in 
the hand of God, representing practical Chris- 
tians. 

The confusion of tongues has followed in 
the path of sin since the building of the Tower 
of Babel. "Can a fountain send forth both 
bitter water and sweet?" is a question pro- 
pounded of God to which all nature answers, 
no. Man in violation of every law of nature, 
one moment is praising the Heavenly Father, 
and the next is speaking evil of his neighbor, 
or perhaps hurling out angry words, that tell 
plainly that within are burning fires of de- 
struction. We read in James 3:10: "Out of 
the same mouth proceedeth blessings and 
«ursing; my brethren, these things ought not 
so to be." 

We read, "Old things have passed away 
and all things become new." It may yet re- 
quire centuries to bring about the consumma- 
tion of that truth, but it will come. Centur- 
ies hence, students will read of wars and 
mighty conflicts, in which brother fought 
against brother, and they will thinis: of it as 
the infantile age of Christianity. The 19th 
century is the morning of light, but the sun of 
Practical Christianity has only risen above 
the horizon, and the world in this century is 
receiving larger impression of the univer- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 331 

sal law of Jesus. The time is eomicg when 
the shout of victory will not be the crash of 
war. I read in the light of eternity past that 
man's greatness consisted in his ability to 
cause the world to serve him; but in ths light 
of centuries to come man's greatness will be 
measured by his ability to serve the world. 
A few men grasped the thought of the Savior 
when he said, "Let him who would be great- 
est be the servant of all." This is the thought 
upon which Jesus began his mighty work up- 
on the earth. 

Ths gospel may contain a doctrine, but 
Christianity is a practice. Long has the 
world been struggling with the mighty prob- 
lems of theology and during this time the mul- 
titudes have been starving for the bread of 
life. The time has come when the wisdom of 
men should be supplanted by the wisdom of 
God, and the books of theology supplanted by 
the Bible. Too long have we as ministers 
been preaching about the gospel, rather than 
preaching the Gospel. The beggar asks for 
bread, and you begin to tell him about the 
kinds of bread; you analyze each, giving the 
constituent elements that go to make up the 
various kinds, aad all this time the huDger is 
gnawing at his vitals. What that man needs, 
and what he wants is bread. So the multi- 
tudes want a Gospel, that will feed the hun- 
gry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, wipe 
away the tears of sorrow and heal the broken 



332 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

heart. That is practical Christianity, 

We are taught by revelation that we have 
gifts varying. That these should be used not 
for the promotion of selfish purposes, but for 
the- accomplishing of the greatest good to the 
greatest number. That man isnot a practical 
Christian who uses his gift, to the defeating 
of anothers interest. Because Corbet is an 
athlete, does it give him license to pass along 
the street and strike down some man who 
happens to be weak in body? A man may be 
a giant in business circles because of his 
wealth, which he may have inherited, but does 
it give him a right to destroy a weaker brother 
who is strugling to make an honest liv- 
ing for his family? "Destroy not thy weaker 
brother with thy meat." 

While the rich man uses his money as a 
sword with which to destroy his weaker 
brother, rather than as an aid to him, can we 
persuade the poor man that the gospel that be- 
longs to that man of wealth belongs to him 
also? 

A practical Christianity would revolution- 
ize the present business systems. In practi- 
cal Christianity every man must be a teacher 
of every other. "As we have therefore op- 
portunity let us do good unto all men." A 
man who has ability in excessof that possessed 
by another, has opportunity to do good or evil 
to that man. He has no right as a Christian 
man to use that gift in any way that would not 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 333 

benefit his neighbor. 

While professed Christian men contine 
to use their gifts, that are God-given, to the 
destruction of the poor man's home, and the 
robbing of widows of their houses, we will con- 
tinue to put to shame the extreme practical 
life and teaching of our Savior. When the 
man of ability comes to the knowledge of the 
truth that will cause him to seek to bestow his 
ability as best he can upon another, and to ap- 
ply his ability in causing the weaker members 
to succeed, then will the world behold and say: 
''Behold how they love one another." 

Let the extreme practical life of our Lord 
and Master be brought unto the multitudes, 
for God bath highly exalted Him and given 
Him a name that is above every name, that at 
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and 
that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
Christ is Lord to thegloryof God theFather." 
Phil. 2:9-11. He is the Rose of Sharon, the 
Bright and Morning Star, the Sun of Right- 
eousness, that arose with healing in His wings. 
He said: Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, 
visit the sick, provide for the widows and or- 
phans, do good to them that hate you, pra^y 
for them that despitefully use you and perse- 
cute you; bear ye one anothers burdens. This 
is the law of the Gospel, this is the theory, 
but this in operation would be practical Christ- 
ianity. 

Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world." 



334 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

There is but one way by which the dark places 
of earth can receive light, that is, from the tab- 
ernacles of God. The dynamo sends its elec- 
trical current through the net work of wires, 
and the darkness is expelled, and the night 
becomes the day. Let the churches, the tab- 
ernacles of God be Gospel Dynamos, not at- 
tempting to expel the moral darkness of earth 
simply with the preaching from the pulpit, 
but let us have a system of network as perfect 
as any electric light system in the world, and 
let the light of the gospel be flashed into 
every home, from the home of want and 
wretchedness, to the parlors of brussels and 
tapestry; then will all, from the least to the 
greatest, know that the Lord is God, and that 
Jesus is his Son, — the Savior of men. 

To be practical in our profession, we must 
live practical in our lives. To stop the flow 
of bitter waters we must cleanse the fountain 
at the heart. The church of Christ, is only 
practical in a complete sense, when it feeds 
the hungry, heals the sick, clothes the naked, 
together with the preaching of a "Gospel of 
Peace." When the life of the church shall be 
as consistent with the life of Christ, as the 
teaching of the Church is with the teaching of 
Christ, then will all men know that the "King- 
dom of God is at hand," and all men will press 
into it. 



.,•#' 




T. F. ODtNWELLEli. 



T. F. ODENWELLER. 

The subject of this sketch was born at Macomb, 
III., July 20th, '48; and he was "born again" Oct. 1st, 
'65 — He heard the truth presented by J. C. Reynolds, 
believed on Christ with all his heart, confessed his 
faith and was baptized; and thus began the new life in 
the kingdom of heaven — the life of kingly beauty and 
joyous service which secures another birth — a birth in- 
to the everlasting kingdom. 

His name — Odenweller — indicates that his ances- 
tors dwelt in the forests of Oden — "the Lord of battle 
and victory, the fountain of wisdom and culture." His 
father was a native of Mannheim, Germany; and his 
mother was of New England parentage, born in Leb- 
anon, Ohio. When Bro. O. was a child of four years, 
the family moved to a farm near Macomb where he 
spent his youth. In those days he was very frail in 
body. His companions noted this frailty, and some of 
them, apparently with good intent, tried to brighten 
his prospects by assuring him that '"'he would soon go 
to a brighter world than this." He has outlived these 
cheerful companions; they are awaiting him "over 
there" where none are frail — where is glory, honor and 
immortality. 

At the age of eighteen he became a student in Ab- 
ingdon college, then in her most glorious day, when 
J. H. Garrison, J. H, Smart, Thomas Toof, Josephus 
Hopwood, J. W. McClure, T. H. Goodnight, J. M. 
Morris, and others like them were there. The writer, 
who was a student at the same time, remembers 
Bro, O. as kind, patient, perserving, earnest in all 



338 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Christian duties — obedient to the righteous require- 
ments of the faculty. He did not think it necessary to 
be "brought before the faculty, "for insubordination. He 
made his impression on professor and fellow-student, 
however, as a young Christian gentleman who had a 
purpose, plan and prize before him. He graduated in 
'71, finishing the classical course. He continued his 
studies, taking three years of Hebrew under Prof. Har- 
per; also studied Syriac and Arabic somewhat. He re- 
ceived his A. M, degree, from Eureka college. He is 
still a student, and is not at all "rusty" in Hebrew 
and Greek. 

He was united in marriage June 20, '76, with 
Helena A. Hooker, of Lebanon, Mo. He says of this 
union, "I have committed not a few blunders during 
my life; but I have never once thought I could have 
been more happily married." Sister O. is held in high 
esteem wherever known, and is every ready to bear 
the trials that fall to the 'lot of a pastor's wife; and, 
bearing these she enjoys the results of loving loyal 
service. 

After leaving college Bro. O. engaged in teaching 
for a time, holding principalships at Industry, 111., and 
also at Lebanon, Mo. But he soon turned his attention 
to the ministry. He has served as pastor in 111., and 
Mo.; and for the last sixteen years has lived and labor- 
ed in Iowa, He is now located at Marcus. He was for 
six years a member of the State Board of the I. C. 
Convention. When the lamented A. I. Hobbs was sick, 
and unable to fill his place in Drake University, Bro.O. 
was selected to teach his classes; this he did with 
credit to himself and to the satisfaction of those who 
called him. All who know him honor him for his 
sterling worth, his Christian character; he takes 
"heed to himself and to the doctrine" — he preaches 
what Heaven wills should be preached, and practices 
what he preaches. G. L. Brokaw. 



THE WORD OF FAITH, 

I believe that old book from lid to lid. — "Greatest 
Evangelist in America." 

The New Testament is my creed — Elder X. 

I have no creed. My church has no creed. I defy 
all the world and this town to show me the creed of the 
Christian Church. — Rev. Y. 

No Creed But Christ.— From the lintel of a church 
door. 

The word of faith which we preach ... be- 
cause if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as 
Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised 
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. — Paul. Rom. 
10:9. 

Creed. 1 A formal summary of fundamental 
points of religious belief; an authoritative statement of 
doctrine on points held to be vital, usually representing 
the views of a religious body; a confession of faith. 2 
That which is believed; belief or opinion in any matter; 
principle of action; doctrine. — Standard Dictionary. 

There is a glorious land variegated with 
hill and valley, lake and river, forest and 
meadow. Strange to tell, in that country, 
though all else was free, the doves were con- 
fined in cages. Each variety of dove had 
his peculiar kind of cage. The old patriarchs 
could not remember ever having seen a free 
bird of their kind without a cage and they 



340 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

persistently affirmed that such had never been 
and never could be. They gave a variety of 
reasons for their confinement and, if an "up- 
start" bird dared to doubt the utility of the 
cages, the wrath of the "orthodox" fathers 
was terrible. Such a one was impious; he was 
a traitor; he was as bad as the cageless vul- 
ture. 

One bright day, not far from a century 
ago, when all nature seemed to invite the pris- 
oners forth to enjoy the freedom of grove and 
plain, while the old birds were scolding the 
young for beating their wings against the or- 
thodox wires, to the astonishment of all there 
came, flying high over hill and mountain, a 
small flock of birds in "outward appearance" 
very like the encaged doves. They were 
the happiest of birds; they filled the whole 
land with their music, and their song seemed 
to "go right up to heaven and live among the 
stars." 

Then there was great commotion within 
the cages. "There," said the young birds 
and some old ones whose orthodoxy had long 
been considered doubtful, "there, we told you 
so, doves may be free ; let us leave these old 
dens and make our home in the broad world 
that God has made for us." 

The patriarchs of each cage scolded and 
scolded and scolded. They who never could 
sing in unison, and whose chief pastime had 
ever been to curse one another's music, struck 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 341 

the same note for the first time since a brd's 
memory runneth not to the contrary. They 
declared that though the new birds "were in 
outward appearance" doves, they were in real- 
ity vultures, or something else equally un- 
clean and hateful. They held it to be axiom- 
atic that cageless doves can not live, and flour- 
ish, and propagate their kind; and that there- 
fore, the birds in question must soon, at farth- 
est, within a generation, perish from the earth. 

But the free birds increased and multi- 
plied at an unheard of rate, to the amazement 
of the bird traditionalists; they built their 
homes, on every hill and plain, in every tree, 
beside all waters; they filled the whole land 
with their glad triumphant song. 

There was greater commotion within the 
cages. The fathers once more addressed 
themselves to the question that would not 
down. They resolved that, "In as much as 
no dove can live and flourish without being 
encaged; and in as much as the new kind of 
dove does possibly live and floujish; there- 
forC; in as much as we have not seen the cage 
of the strange bird, we pronouce his cage an 
"invisible" one; and that in as much as one 
cage is as good as another, all should be con- 
tent to continue in the home of father and 
mother and grandparent." But thousands 
were not content and betook themselves to the 
cage "invisible." Other hundred thousands 
who remained addressed themselves to the 



342 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

task of rendering the old cages as invisible as 
the new ones. 

The free birds were not as free as they 
had thought. They could not descend into 
the solid earth. They were confined by the 
frozen mountains of the north, and the poison - 
laden winds of the distant south; nor could 
they penetrate far into the thin air above the 
mountain tops. They were after all in a cage, 
though ''invisible'*, yet nevertheless very 
real. But it was God-made; and it was worthy 
of Him who planned it; it was ample and mag- 
nificent, a glorious home for bird of every 
wing. 

The ordinary creed is "an authoritative 
statement of doctrine on points held to be vi- 
tal." There is also an extraordinary creed 
that may be defined in the same terms. The 
one is authorized by pope, counsel or assem- 
bly ; the other by the Lord of heaven. The 
one presents such truth as limited man holds 
to be vital; the other such as Omniscience holds 
to be life-giving. The one grows out of human 
speculation and is an evolution from earth, born 
of passion, ignorance and limited knowled^fe; 
the other is a revelation from on high. Theone 
looks to the past; the other ever toward the 
future. The one is destined to be wrecked on 
an untried sea; the other will sail on through 
the golden gate of the eternal morning into 
the land of endless day. 

The writer has often heard and seen such 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 343 

absurdities as are quoted at the head of this 
article. They indicate a confusion of thought 
that vitiates men's conception of the Christian 
system and threaten to lead to the most griev- 
ous errors in practice. 

The man who says ''I have no creed" un- 
doubtedly denies much more than he intends. 
He perhaps means the he has no authoritative 
creed comparable with that of Augsburg or 
Westminister. He really declares that he has 
no religious faith whatever. If he believe 
anything ever so small he can not truthfully 
say that he has no creed. 

Is the Bible our divinely authorized creed? 
If a man can be found who knows all the con- 
tents of the book, and who has arrived at an 
unquestionable interpretation of every part, 
he may declare that he "believes all of it from 
lid to lid." But where is the congregation, to 
say nothing of a larger party, whose members 
can even be supposed to know and understand 
as much as half the contents of the scriptures? 
Certainly nowhere. Then if a creed be noth- 
ing more than "that which is believed," we 
misuse words if we declare the Bible to be the 
creed of any people. 

The creed of the Apostolic church was 
not even the New Testament. There were 
congregations of Christ planted all over the 
civilized world before the canon of the New 
Testament was settled, and even before the 
several books were written. 



344 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

That the primitive Christian professed a 
creed is unquestionable; it is repeated over 
and over in both the New Testament and in 
the writing of the fathers. It was ever on 
the lips of the dying martyr, and Roman 
judge, and historian could not but know what 
was that faith for which the Christian gladly 
gave his life. And yet that all-conquering 
faith did not involve the formal confession of 
implicit belief in any book of either the Old or 
the New Testament. 

*'No creed but Christ;" this combination 
of words is not a little puzzling. If they mean 
that we believe what Christ says; then he is a 
witness and not a creed. If it is meant that our 
creed is some truth about Christ, then the 
words are as acceptable to the unitarian as to 
the Christian. The best that can be said for 
this declaration, aside from the absurdity 
of its diction, is that it is the divinely author- 
ized creed shorn both of its dignity of ex- 
pression and its definiteness of meaning. 

Let us hear Paul. Having never seen his 
brethren at Rome, he assumes that a certain 
definite declaration is familiar to all of them. 
He can have been sure of this for no other 
reason than because it was the habit of apostles 
and other teachers under their direction to 
teach a word of faith." This word was in 
their hearts; they understood it; they loved 
it; by it their religious thought was guided. 
The word was in their mouths, on their lips; 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 345 

they were able to receive it most readily. 
This iDord was not a single word, but a com- 
bination of ivords. Paul quotes here a pass- 
age from Deuteronomy in which the ivord is 
clearly a speech or declaration contained in 
words. In the Hebrew the ten command- 
ments are ' 'ten words. ' ' Moreover the apostle 
gives us the substance of this speech^^hioh. is, 
''If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus 
as Lord, and shall believe in thy heart that 
God raised him from the dead thou shalt be 
saved." Then this word is to the effect that 
the man Jesus is more than man; that he is 
Lord, the divine and rightful ruler of the con- 
fessor. It involves belief in a God who can 
restore the dead to life, and who did in fact 
raise Jesus from the dead. It gives assur- 
ance of salvation to him whose thought and 
feeling and action are controlled by thiBivord, 

The great apostle in an appeal to Timothy 
(II Tim. 6:12) says: "Thou didst confess the 
good confession in the sight of many witnes- 
ses;" and reminds him that his Lord had also 
"Before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good 
confession." There was therefore on the lips 
of Jesus and in the mouth of Timothy, a con- 
vert of Paul, a notable luoi^d named the con- 
fession. This, surely, was the ?/;6>r<^confessed 
by the church of Rome. 

On a notable occasion Jesus asked his dis- 
ciples, "Who say ye that I am?" Peter ans- 
wered, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the 



346 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

living God." "Blessed art thou" said Christ, 
"for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. ^ * ^ 
Upon this rock will I build my church." To 
say that a church is founded upon Peter is 
equivalent to saying that that church is found- 
ed upon some idea represented by Peter. To 
say that Christ is the foundation of the church 
is equal to saying that the church is estab- 
lished upon some doctrine concerning Christ. 
A spiritual institution, such as a church can 
be built on nothing else than a doctrine. 

The all important doctrine upon which 
the Church of Christ is built is the confession 
of Peter. This "word of faith" declares the 
Son of Man, Jesus, to be the Christ, or that 
he is the one preeminentlyanointed as teacher, 
priest, and king; he is the confessor's Lord. 
It also commits the believer to faith in Jesus 
as the Son of God; he is therefore divine. 

Jesus reminded Peter that this confession 
did not spring from any instruction that he 
had ever received from human lips but that 
he had received it from the Father in heaven. 
Perhaps Peter was present when, at the bap- 
tism of Jesus, the Father's voice was heard 
declaring Jesus to be his Son. He was in the 
holy mount with James and John and Jesus 
when Jehovah's voice again was heard saying, 
"This is my son the beloved; hear him." 
Long years thereafter when the apostle is 
about to put oif the tabernacleof flesh he avers. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 347 

**When we were with him in the holy mount 
this voice we ourselves heard come out of 
heaven from the excellent glory." Possibly 
at some other time Jehovah may have spoken 
the words of Peter's confession, but probably 
the declaration at the baptism and on the holy 
mount are considered only other forms of the 
confession of Peter. 

On the great and notable day of Pentecost 
Peter performed the most important duty 
ever undertaken by man. He preached the 
first sermon of the Christian dispensation. 
What he then loosed was loosed in heaven. 
What he then bound was bound in heaven. 
What does he bind upon his hearers? The 
theme of his sermon is, "Let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly, that God hath made 
that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both 
Lord and Christ." "Then they that gladly 
received his word were baptized." 

This divinely authorized "word of faith," 
whose most important feature is an acknowl- 
edgement of the divinity of Jesus, is the only 
known confession of the primitive church. 
By it Christians were distioguished from 
other men; by it the world was advised of 
that difference; by it the body of Christ was 
bound together in such a brotherhood as had 
never been known before. It harmonized the 
diverse elements of cultured Greece, barbarous 
Bythlnia and exclusive Judea. Under this 
standard the feeble band soon became a 



348 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

mighty army. It conquered the civilized 
world and within three centuries planted the 
Christian banner on the Roman capitol. 

In modern times there has arisen a people 
whose standard is that under which the primi- 
tive church conquered the world. Ev^ery one 
of them has confessed, "I believe with my 
whole heart that Jesus is the Christ the Son 
of the living God," By this they are united in 
a faith more uniform than that of an}^ other 
people. But yesterday this people was not: 
to-day it is one of the mightiest. They are a 
surprise even to themselves. To-day they 
are multiplying as they never did before and 
as no other people has ever been known to 
multiply. And yet the future promises even 
greater victories. 

Just here I am reminded that every day 
new conditions confront us; some abuse rath- 
er than use the libert}^ wherewith Christ has 
made us free. What shall we do with these 
who, under the open sky and the light of the 
Christian sun, claim the right to perform 
such fantastic tricks as make the angels 
weep? Were we heathen we could enjoy the 
performances, impatient only that the con- 
tortionists do not break their necks. But 
being Christians we are vexed that many a 
child, in a vain endeavor to imitate these 
noted athletes, does bread his feeble neck. 
What will we do? Amend the creed and de base 
the contortionist who is as loyal to Christ as 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 349 

we are? We would far better endure the ill 
we have than fly to the evils of a human creed 
that others know but too well. 

To-day some of us are devoted to one of 
the greatest reforms of the age. But all, who 
are loyal to Christ, are not one in the temper- 
ance reform. Yesterday some of our most 
valiant soldiers of the cross came into the 
assembly, showed their bleeding wounds 
and declared that their wounds had 
had been inflicted and some of their fellows 
been slain by a false brother, who had giv- 
en aid and comfort to the enemy. They 
would load him with obloquy, they would dis- 
honor him ; they would drive him out of the 
assembly. But the brother's loyalty to our 
symbol was unquestionable. His sin was 
not thinking as we thought, on an entirely 
different question. The standard of the cross 
was lifted high. All eyes were turned to that. 
We saw the beauty of that symbol as never 
before; we could not, we would not attempt 
improvement on the workmanship divine, 
and that brother and we were one in Christ 
Jesus. 

Here I fell into a revery. A man came 
into my study. His appearance was that of a 
sage. He saluted me rather haughtily, "You 
are a Christian?" he asked, ''Yes, "said I. ''So 
am I," said he, "lam from over the Rhine 
and have come to teach you a thing or two." 
I said "My motto is to sieze on truth wherever 



350 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ound, on Christian or on German ground." 
He smiled, and then stepped to my library re- 
marking, "You have here an immense amount 
of trash." This I could not deny. He gathered 
up my '"Confession," my book of "Discipline" 
and others like them, "Tnese are not authority, ' ' 
said he, "let me takeand destroy them." "O!'' 
said I, "to me they are of no authority, but they 
are of value to show, 'What fools these mortals 
be.'" He put back the books, remarking, "They 
will not hurt you. ' ' 

He then gathered up my commentaries 
and said he would take them awav and send 
me "an up-to-date" commentary instead; I ac- 
cepted his generous offer, but it was painful 
to part with those volumes that had been my 
lifelong friends. 

Then my visitor sat down beside me and 
discoursed learnedly (I supposed) of I, E, 
and some more of the alphabet, and of the two 
Isaiahs. I approved part of what he said. 
Part I did not understand. Part I thought 
most destructive; but I did not oppose him. 
I listened respectfully and he declared me the 
most candid man he had met. He then took 
a pair of shears, remarking, "Of course no 
candid man believes the whale story." At 
that he clipped the whole book of Jonah out 
of my best Bible. But somehow his compli- 
ment seemed to me of more value than the 
book. But he did nob stop with this. He 
went on talking and cutting. And I went on 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 351 

being candid. Soon I felt a weight upon my 
soul. As he went on with his work the weight 
grew heavier and heavier. It was as if I 
were being pressed down into the dark 
waters of oblivion. Worst of all I could not 
hear the strains of David's harp, the heaven- 
born light was withdrawn from the Judean 
hills, and the glorious vision of heaven and 
immortality was growing dim and threatening 
to fade away in endless night. 

'•There," said the stranger, "I have done, 
T will send you a bright new Rainbow Bible to 
replace this one." 

Aroused from my horrid revery I thought, 
"Surely there is some means of locking the 
door of the church against that man ; surely 
there are thunderbolts forged for the de- 
struction of such a vandal as he." I turned 
to my Bible and found thunderbolts in plenty 
but none that man can wield. As for the 
door it was locked open by Peter on the day 
of Pentecost, cannot be closed, and is guarded 
only by an insertion on the lintel reading, 
"I believe with my heart that Jesus is the 
Christ the son of the living God." 

Sorely perplexed I fell asleep and dream- 
ed. I saw a mountain greater and higher 
than any mountain on earth. Between the 
green trees from base to summit appeared 
ledges of gold and diamond, emerald and jasi- 
per. Under the morning sun this mountain 
shone in indescribable splendor. At the 



352 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

summit stood a cross surpassing in glory 
even this mountain of God. 

I saw a band of savages go forth with 
spear and knife and shovel, and intent upon 
destroying this mountian of God. In my 
dream ages on ages rolled by and 
still the barbarians sought to level the moun- 
tian. But in vain. A little of the gold was 
removed, some of the dust was scraped away, 
but the mountain seemed more glorious than 
ever. 

Ages rolled on, and I saw aiiother'race 
approach the mountian armed with the tools 
and enginery of civilized man. They^declar- 
ed that they would not, and could not destroy 
that glorious mount, but would tunnell for 
better gold and purer diamond than lay upon 
the surface. They tunneled and tunneled and 
tunneled as the ages went by, and the end of 
the world had come. I looked. The mount- 
ain stood as in years agone. At the summit 
was the cross, and over it a scroll; and in the 
light of eternal day I read, "Jesus is the 
Christ the son of God. ' ' I awoke and shouted, 

In the cross of Christ I glory- 
Towering o'er the wrecks of time! 

I do not care what man can do. Let him 
blast the rock on the mountain side. Let him 
tunnel with good intent or ill. He can never 
destroy, or even mar, the mountain of re vela 
tion reared by Jehovah's wondrous power. 




Wm. Bavakd Craig. 



WILLIAM BAYARD CRAIG, A. M., LL D, 

Many preachers and leaders among the Disciples 
are of Scotch-Irish stock. The Grains are an old family 
in county Antrim in the north of Ireland. The father 
of Chancellor Craig was born near Loch Neagh, gradu- 
ated as physician and surgeon in the University of 
Glasgow, came to the British Provinces and settled in 
St. John, New Brunswick, where the subject of this 
sketch was born Dec. 7th, 1846. 

The father was a Presbyterian, the mother an Epis- 
copalian, but an aunt who had become a devout member 
of the Baptist church had much influence in directing 
the religious thought of her nephew. He was educated 
in the best private schools of the city but entered com- 
mercial life before preparation for college was quite 
complete. A year devote d to athletics at this time is 
often referred to by Bro. Craig as a valuable factor in 
fitting him for life work. 

By the summer of 1867 both parents were dead and 
the stream of young life pouring into the great west 
carried young Craig to Chicago. Here, sceptical, and 
in the full tide of exuberant life, Christianity reached 
out an arresting hand through a fellow clerk, a faithful 
young member of the Christian church then meeting on 
the north side in Chicago. It was a first acquaintance 
with the Christian church. The pastor, D. P. Hender- 
son had just the tact and temperament to meet the case. 
The neglected Bible was recovered from the bottom of 
the trunk, and, on Thanksgiving day, to the great sur- 
prise of his friends, the arrest was complete and the 
new convert made public confession of faith. The 
change wrought seems to have been of the most thor- 



356 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ough character, within a month the young man was 
seeking to find out how he might devote his life wholly 
to the service of the Master. 

About this time J. Mad. Williams visited Chicago, 
he had been elected to the superintendeney of the Iowa 
Cit}^ schools and had come to study the working of the 
schools in a large city. Out of what seemed like a 
chance meeting atthechurch, correspondence with John 
C. Hay resulted, Craig came to Iowa City, was wel- 
comed into the home of John W. Porter, entered the 
university, and graduated in 1875 the salutatorian of his 
class. A post graduate course ia Yale followed, he was 
one of the first of our young men to attend the Yale Di- 
vinity school. After a year's successful pastorate in 
Danbury, Conn., the Church of Christ in Chicago called 
him as pastor to succeed that princely preacher 
Isaac Errett, founder of the Christian Standard; 
but the call from friends of college days was stronger, 
and young Craig took up pastoral work in Iowa City. 
For nearly seven years with marked success he minis- 
tered to this church, whence he was induced to under- 
take the work of building up the cause of Christ in 
Denver, Colorado. The city contained then about 
35,000 inhabitants. The Christian church in Denver 
had neither house of worship nor lot upon which to 
build. The state of Colorado had but one house of 
worship built by the Disciples of Christ. In a little 
more than ten years the new pastor had gathered and 
led the Christian forces to the realization of a great 
work. The building of Central church at a cost of S35,- 
000 was accomplished. Assistance in the building up 
of Highland church and Berkley Mission, costing to- 
gether about $30,000, was given. South Broadway 
Christian church Dr. Craig organized in 1889 with 
thirty-seven members, erected an elegant structure 
costing more than $65,000 and gathered in a large mem- 
bership, with a Sunday-school enrollment of nearly 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 357 

1,000. During his ministry in Denver he was prosper- 
ed in material things. His friends were partakers in 
that prosperity. For four years he and his excellent 
wife labored for the South Broadway church, making 
their elegant home the center of social life in the com- 
munity, and maintaining themseWes without charge to 
the church. 

In 1874 Bro. Craig married Miss Pricilla Milliken, 
then teacher of Greek in the State University of Iowa, 
they had been class mates in the !S. U. I. After ten 
years she died leaving two daughters. In 1885 the 
family was once more establishea by the union with 
Miss Emma Pickrell of Mechanicsburg, 111. A son born 
of this marriage died in 1890. 

The state universities of Iowa and Colorado have 
given the Masters and Doctors degrees. 

Chancellor Carpenter of Drake University died in 
1893 and the office remained vacant until Dr. Craig was 
elected in 1897. He comes to the office in the prime of 
life and after a successful and varied experience. 
There is no more important position among our people 
in the west than to stand at the head of an institution 
with the history and prospects of Drake. It is confi- 
dently believed by his friends that the new Chancellor 
will be an important factor in the continued prosperity 
of the university. M. 



WORSHIP. . 

God is a spirit and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24, 

Communion with God is the highest at- 
tainment of the human soul. It is proof of 
divine kinship. It is a declaration that the 
divine life may interpenetrate the clay of hu- 
manity. It is the prophecy of immortality. 
It is the foundation on which the optimist 
builds the glorious structure of a better fu- 
ture—the city of God, the "far off divine event 
to which the whole creation moves." 

Under Moses men entered into the courts 
of Jehovah and worshiped from afar in fear 
and trembling. Jesus leads men into the very 
Holy of Holies and teaches us to say ''Our 
Father.'' This is indeed the key-note of his 
revelation. The fatherhood of God, the son- 
ship of men, and the consequent brotherhood 
of men, is the great central fact in the Christ- 
ian religion, all else is subordinate. All ethi- 
cal considerations are based in this divine re- 
lationship. God is love, hence love should 
rule the life of his child. God is holy, the 
children should be holy, "Be ye therefore per- 
fect even as your father which is in heaven is 
perfect." 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 359 

To the all comprehensive of gaze Jesus all 
the Law and the Prophets could be summed 
up and expressed in one commandment, viz: 
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart and with all thy soul and with all 
thy mind." To "love thy neighbor as thy- 
self" was involved in this. Man must know 
God and love him before he can know man and 
serve him. Man must worship before he can 
work. Ctirist called men to himself, revealed 
man to himself, revealed his latent divinity, 
christed them for service and then sent them 
out. "As the father sent me even so send I 
you." Christ found men, bound them to him- 
self by the strong cords of love, taught them, 
they were endowed with the spirit and wis- 
dom from above that they might become co- 
operative redemptors. 

Love to God is the first thing and always 
the fountain of good in the life of men. Wor- 
ship is the manifestation of our love to God. 
Worship is the religious life on the God ward 
side. Worship is the most important factor 
in the life of the Christian or of the church. 
The worship must be genuine and devout or 
the work will be weak and ineffectual. Man 
must draw from God if he would give to men. 

The place of worship in the religious life 
may be studied to good advantage in the 
Mosaic cult. There worship fills so large a 
place that the preacher ana prophet render 
bat occasion 1 and incidental service. 



360 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Jesus ap]jeared among a people accustom- 
ed to this elaborate worship. He gathered 
about him men trained in the worship of the 
Temple from childhood. At the very thres- 
hold of their discipleship he taught them to 
worship in the well known prayer that has 
well nigh conquered the world. All through 
the New Testament the glimpses we get of 
the early Christian church show it to be pre- 
eminently a worshiping assembly. They were 
in prayer on the Day of Pentecost waiting the 
fulfilment of the divine promise. Peter's 
great sermon followed worship in which 
the heavens had been opened to the devout 
assembly. When Peter and John returned to 
their own company and recounted what they 
had suffered from their priestly persecutors 
the company "lifted up their voices to God 
with one accord." 

"Many were gathered together praying" 
when Peter came to the house of John Mark 
after his deliverance from prison. At Troas, 
on the first da}^ of the week when the disciples 
came together to break the break, Paul 
preached unto them. The preaching was 
evidently incidental. Much of the instruc- 
tion in the various letters to the churches in 
the New Testament has to do with the pro- 
prieties of worship. 

That this worship of the early church 
was much of it in concert, or liturgical, would 
be expected from their previous training and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 361 

from the forms of worship that prevail 
throughout the east until this day ; but the 
most conclusive evidence is in the New Test- 
ament itself, in the fragments of ritual re- 
maining in the records. The methods 
or forms of worship then or now are 
not important however, they belong to the 
liberties and proprieties of Christanity; it is 
the fact of worship itself that we are dealing 
with, and the importance of the actual com- 
munion of the human soul with God. 

So far as the religion of Christ was new 
in doctrine and ideals it must have preachers 
and teachers. New ideas demand proclama- 
tion, explanation, defence. The christian re- 
ligion necessarily exalted the preacher. God- 
ward it was a praying church, manward it 
was a preaching church. 

Worship is much the same under all dis- 
pensations. It is the same trust and depend- 
ence in the child that it is in the man. The 
twenty-third Psalm can be used side by side 
with the Lord's prayer. Praise, prayer, rev- 
erence, adoration, these are much the same 
to Jew and Christian. The difference shows 
clearly in the preaching and teaching. 

The change from Romanism to Protes- 
tantism is almost as great as the change from 
Judaism to Christanity. Romanism is Christ- 
ianit}" reduced to legalism. The demand for 
preachers to proclaim the new doctrine was 
equally marked. The protestant reformation 



362 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

revived and emphasized the function of 
preaching. All its great leaders were also 
great preachers. 

The same conditions prevailed in the re- 
ligious movement represented by the Disci- 
ples of Christ. It did not inaugurate a revi- 
val in the emotional realm of religion. It is 
eminently a protest against the divisions 
among Christians caused by the domination 
of medieval creeds and theologies as the 
basis of Christian fellowship, an appeal to the 
authority of Christ as the Head of the church, 
and to tkie New Testament as the revelation 
of his will. Our leaders lead a reaction 
against mysticism and claimed that the plain, 
practical teaching of the apostles was suffi- 
cient to lead tne hearer to faith, repentance 
and obedience to Christ's commands. Here 
was a harvest field for the preacher. No pre- 
vious reform movement had so much need of 
earnest preachers. The preacher has been 
the very forefront of this movement from the 
begining. He has won great victories and 
great honor. He is the conspicious figure in 
our history. 

The editors of our great papers have be- 
come eminent 'as influential leaders, but their 
success has been won chiefly in the line of 
preaching and teaching. This is allright and 
as it should be. Our remarkable growth is 
the result of aggressive gospel preaching. 
The question to be considered is, whether, 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 363 

under these circumstances, we have not some- 
what neglected the duty and development of 
worship. 

The assembly of God^s children for 
praise and prayer around the table of the Lord 
is one thing, preaching the gospel to sinners 
is quite another. Have we permitted the 
preaching to usurp too large a place? There 
are indications that we have. Let us con- 
sider this with some anxiety to discover the 
truth. If there is defect in a matter of such 
supreme importance it is sure to manifest 
itself in time, and we will have to pay the pen- 
alty of disobedience to God's requirements. 
Possibly we are already paying a penalty. 

In making a relief map of a country it is 
necessary to exaggerate the altitudes in order 
that the truth of a contour may appear. It is 
often advisible to do something of that kind. 
It is necessary perhaps in this discussion. 

There seems to many to be a lack of rev- 
erance in our assembling on the Lords day. 
The opening service is marred by the tardy 
coming of many of the members. There 
seems to be the feeling that the sermon is the 
chief thing. One is not impressed with the 
feeling that he is in a devout worshiping as- 
sembly. One would desire to be helped to 
realize more fully that he is in the presence 
of God and in communion with him. The 
arrangement of the house is for the preaching 
service. The preacher is in the place of 



364 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

honor. The sermon is the center of interest. 
The Lord's supper is in a subordinate posi- 
tion, and the observance of the divine ordi- 
nance is often hurried because the sermon 
has occupied all the time. The prayer meet- 
ing might be supposed to supplement and 
make up for the lack of devotion in the 
Lordsday service, but is attended by so small 
a portion of the membership that it cannot be 
relied upon to do so. 

The undue reliance on preaching mani- 
fests itself in a strained effort on the part of 
the preacher to secure large audiences by his 
sermonic effort. There grows up a demand 
for the gifted orator and the gifted orator is 
constantly striving by efforts that border on 
the sensational to hold and increase his 
audience. This unhealthy demand for stir- 
ring sermons makes frequent changes neces- 
sary; the congregation still seeking for the 
man that can draw. A further evil devel- 
ops in the readiness of the weary business 
men to keep away from church, the sensation- 
al permon has brought on distaste for all 
church service. He wants food and refresh, 
ment, and gets unhealth}^ excitement or stim- 
ulus of which he finally wearies. 

It may be safely assumed that the souls 
of men are hungry for the bread of life. 
When men are conscious that the church ser- 
vice has aroused the best that is in them, and 
made God seem real and near to them, they 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 365 

will go back; they willingly feed in green pas- 
tures. They will be led to enter the religious 
life, and, under favorable conditions, grow 
into full Christian manhood. 

The delighted hearers of an eloquent ser- 
mon may be church members and regular at- 
tendants, and yet know but little about wor- 
shiping God in spirit and in truth; indeed 
they may have no taste for such worship. 
They have been educated not so much to wor- 
ship God as to hear the preacher. 

Under such a condition of affairs the 
preacher is sure to become a preacher rather 
than a pastor- His time and strength are ab- 
sorbed by the demands of the pulpit. Prob- 
ably his tastes were in that direetionn to be- 
gin with. Young men are, under these circum- 
stances, attracted to the pulpit by erronious 
ideals. 

The hold of the preacher on the people is 
not the hold of the faithful pastor. The man 
with whom the conscious communion with God 
is highly developed, who is among the people 
as one who serves, who leads the flock to 
spiritual heights, whose life, perhaps chastened 
by suffering, enabled him to sympathize with 
the sorrowing, who has grown wise and ten- 
der by a long and varied experience; whose 
life becomes bound up with the life of his peo- 
ple by commingling with their joys and their 
sorrows, who has stood among them with 
radiant face in the marriage feast and wept 



366 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

with them at the open grave, who has rejoiced 
with them when the prodigal returned and 
stood with them on the Mount of Transfigura- 
tion, when it almost seemed that Christ him- 
self were present at the memorial feast. Such 
a man does not pass the dead-line at fifty. 
The congregation, taught to look to the house 
of God as a place of rest and refuge for the 
soul, where the music, and the prayers, and 
the reading of the Word, and the fellowship of 
the disciples seem to make it indeed a very 
gate of heaven, are not willing to change such 
a pastor for a novice. They value the min- 
istry of the man of God who truly worships 
God and leads the people into divine commun- 
ion, more than the catchy sermonizer or the 
sensational revivalist. 

Are we not also paying the penalty of er- 
ror in the fact that the churches to-day have 
less use and appreciation for the wisdom and 
experience of age? In the profession of 
law or medicine, in military life, or in pol- 
itics, the highest rewards are attained by 
persons of age and e:cperience. In the very 
nature of the case this would seem to be es- 
pecially true in the church, in the ministry of 
the word. That it is not so is sufficient reason 
to suspect some grave error in the prevailing 
ideas of the minister's work. Are we not 
paying the penalty now? 

It is not implied in this view of the case 
that too much attention is given to winning 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 367 

converts by the preaching of the gospel. The 
**go preach the gospel to every creature" 
must lose nothing of its force until the world 
is won. Training the converts and leading 
them into fullest communion with God need not 
detract from the effort to win souls, it is in- 
deed the proper supplement and sustaining 
help of the revivalist to see that the con- 
verts are lead onward and upward in the di- 
vine service. 

If, on account of the abuse of the observ- 
ance of the Lord's Supper in Corinth, many- 
were spiritually sick among them, is it not 
reasonable to suppose that modern spiritual 
sickness may have a similar cause? 

There is nothing in the present ordering 
of the Lord's Day morning service that is of 
divine appointment; the forms are all the re- 
sult of custom, or Christian expediency. The 
place of the preacher, the place of the Lord's 
table, the place of the singers, the sequence 
of the service, carrying around the emblems, 
the hymns, the music — all is modern and of 
man's device. God evidently intended that it 
should be so. The liberty that established 
these forms is free to change them as the de- 
mands of devout worship may require. Im- 
provement must come by a more profound 
realization that God is present by his Spirit. 
Let everything be done as under the eye of 
the Master; this will make the music devout 
and worshipful; will make the prayers rever- 



368 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ent and genuine; will subordinate the preacher 
to the worshiping purpose of the assembly; 
will make the Lord's Supper as impressive as 
if the Lord himself were breaking bread with 
his disciples. 

In such a worshiping assembly would it 
not sound strange and incongruous to hear 
the minister announce "Miss Smith will now 
favor us with a solo?" The true worshiping 
spirit would realize the actual presence of 
Christ, and both preacher and singer would 
forget themselves in the exaltation of divine 
service. 

We are fortunate as a people in having 
the Lord's table in the center of the morning 
service. It will be easy to make more and 
more of that, enriching the observance and 
making it as it should be a spiritual refresh- 
ing and uplift, making the sermon subordinate 
to the chief purpose and leaving the evening, 
or other services, full freedom of form and 
method to reach and preach to sinners. Our 
brethren in England have perhaps gone to an 
extreme in making the morning service prac- 
tically for the church members only; but have 
we not gone to the other extreme in our neglect 
of worship and the rights of the members to 
spiritual training and development? 

We seem to have entered a psycichal per- 
iod, the realities of the spiritual realm are 
more easily grasped, there is a wide spread 
feeling that we could have greater spiritual 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 369 

power if we knew how to pray, how to appro- 
priate the power that belongs to us as children 
of God. There is a feeling that there are 
heights of faith to which we have not attained, 
deep things of God yet to be comprehended. 
The true worshiper, that worships the Father 
in spirit and in truth, is open-souled to the 
fullest revelation of His mind and will. We 
will not be able to understand the Sermon on 
the Mount fully until we approach the full 
stature of manhood in Christ Jesus. We 
make good growth when we remember that 
knowledge is not enough, indeed love is the 
more important: for love "builds up," and love 
is worship. 



m-' 




I. N. McCash. 



I. N. McCASH. 

Isaac Newton McCash was born in Cumberland 
county 111., June 5, 1861. As his name indicates 
he is a descendant of the Scotch through his father. 
He inherits the sturdy traits of the Hollanders from 
his mother. He spent his early boyhood days on the 
farm in the summer, and at the district school in win- 
ter. In later boyhood he moved with his parents to 
eastTenn,, and soon afterward entered Sumach Semi- 
nary, Ga., where he spent two years. He then began his 
career as a leacher, his first work being in the public 
schools of East Tenn. While living there he obeyed 
the Gospel under the teaching of his father, Isaac 
Sparks McCash, who with the aged mother, Martha 
Ann McCash reside at Hazel Dell, 111. 

In 1881 he went to the National Normal University, 
Lebanon, Ohio where he completed three courses. 
After graduation he was elected principal of Ewiogton 
Academy. Ewington, Ohio, where he remained two 
years, and gave eminent satisfaction. On account of 
failing health he was obliged to seek a more favorable 
climate and accordingly moved to Lyons Kan. having 
been elected principal of the public schools of that 
city. During the five years which he held this posi- 
tion he conducted Normal Institutes in many counties 
October 5, 1886, he was married to Miss Marietta 
Tandy at Harristown, Illinois. Born of a preaching 
family, she has naturally taken to a pastor's wife's 
duties. Three children bless their home. While at 
Pratt, Kansas, engaged in an institute, he was induced 
to hold a short meeting in which nineteen were added 
to the church. Afterward he held another meeting re- 



374 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

suiting in forty-six additions. He was prevailed upon 
to resign his position at Lyons, Kansas, where he was 
elected for the sixth year as superintendent of the city 
schools, and devote his time to the ministry. A call 
from the church at Maryville, Missouri, was accepted 
and he began his work at that place August 1, 1890. 
During his ministry of three years, the congregation at 
Maryville doubled its memoership and erected a beau- 
tiful new church building costing $20,000. Having re- 
ceived a unanimous call from the University Place 
Christian Church, Des Moines, Iowa, he resigned at 
Maryville and accepted the newly offered work, begin- 
ning August, 1893. During a ministry of a little more 
than five years, the University Place Church has re- 
ceived into its membership over twelve hundred souls, 
one-third of whom made the good confession for the 
first time. The University Place Church of Christ is 
now one of the largest and most influential bodies in 
the brotherhood. It has a beautiful auditorium; the 
^argest in Des Moines, and the attendance at the regu- 
lar Lord's Day services average the largest in the city. 
The church is well organized and is doing efficient 
work in all of its departments. It is thoroughly mis- 
sionary, and, in conjunction with Drake University, is 
helping to support individual workers in foreign 
fields. 

Pastor McCash is a tireless worker, patient, pru- 
dent, pure, genial, generous and gentle. Physically. 
he is tall and spare. His features are regular and his 
eye is keen, but kindly in its expression. He is re- 
markably vigorous and his movements are quick and 
nervous. As a preacher, he is plain, earnest and 
forceful. His sermons show careful preparation and 
are of that practical type which not only plant, but 
water and cultivate and the result is, as in nature, a 
bountiful harvest. His manner of delivery is easy and 
graceful and free from the eccentricities which in many 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 375 

detract from the thought presented. His voice is clear 
and of the resonant quality, which enables all in the 
great auditorium to hear him without effort on the part 
of either speaker or auditor. 

As a pastor and spiritual adviser and leader, Dr. 
McCash excells. He is a man in whom the people have 
unbounded confidence and his genial manner and quick 
sympathies win for him an enviable place in the hearts 
oi his parishioners. On account of the close relation- 
ship existing between Drake University and the Uni- 
versity Place Church, it is very necessary that the 
ministry shall be peculiarly adapted to this field, both 
by nature and by culture. Such a minister is Bro. 
McCash. In June, 1895, the University conferred upon 
him the degree of LL. D. 

Dr. McCash is by no means a man of local fame. 
He has been recognized as an able leader and has 
served as the presiding officer of the State Sunday- 
school Union; as Recording Secretary of the Iowa 
Christian Convention and other important positions. 
He is in constant demand for addresses in young peo- 
ple's conventions. He is interested in the affairs of the 
city and state and nation. 

In the very prime of manhood, with a strong con- 
stitution, a well cultured and well balanced mind, and, 
best of all. a Spirit-filled soul, and with a congregation 
nun.bering 1,460 members, united and harmonious, one 
need not be a seer to predict a still more eminently suc- 
cessful career than that which has already crowned the 
life of one whose highest purpose is to love God and 
manifest that love by serving his fellow men. 

Sherman Kirk. 



THE PLACE AND FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, 

The place of the Holy Spirit in Christian 
doctrine is a large one. The fruit of the Holy 
Spirit is varied by the law of sowing and reap- 
ing. Its recognition in the Bible distinguishes 
that book from the sacred books of the ethnic 
religions of the world. The Vedas and Al- 
coran do not lift the veil and reveal the Sheki- 
nah to the soul. There is a distinct doctrine 
traceable through the Old, and New Testa- 
ments. 

In creationHof the material world, when 
Chaos reigned, the Spirit brooded as a great 
bird, f^ over the faces of night and disorder. 
Out of the darkness was called our earth to 
represent, through multiform prod ucts and sur - 
rounding firmament, the character, attributes 
and feelings of God, himself Spirit. These 
could not exp ress his tender emotions and 
concern for men. They awoke feelings of awe 
and sublimity, but love and gratitude slept. 

Upon the earth a creature made in the 
likeness of God, made of the material world, 
into which was breathed life from the Spirit, 
God, and in miniature was combined the 
earthly aad spiritual world. To acquaint this 
creature with his Creator's desires, God must 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 377 

manifest himself more fully than in majestic 
mountains, attrition of wanes, beauty of flow- 
ers, songs of birds and lambency of stars. 
A third creation — "a body didst thou prepare 
me" — a new man, begotten by the Holy Spirit, 
the union of flesh and the Spirit in the person 
of Jesus Christ, the divine Son, revealing the 
Father. The primal cause and factor in these 
three creations was the Spirit. "In the be- 
ginning was the word and the word was with 
God and the word was God ^ ^ "^ and 
word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and 
we beheld his glory, the glory of the only be- 
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 
AgSLin, "He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father." God is Spirit and the source of all 
life. 

So we have then. Spirit in the creation 
of the universe, Spirit in the creation and life 
of man, divine Spirit begetting the Son in 
bodily shape of a man, uniting us in a fellow- 
ship with the Almighty— Spirit, Spirit, Spirit. 
The Master at his baptism is identified by the 
descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a 
dove, when the voice proclaimed, "This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." By 
the same Spirit he is driven out into the wild- 
erness for the preparation of his ministry. 
By Him was he comforted in trial, and by Him 
angels ministered to the Messiah when the 
temptations were passed. 

At the close of his earthly ministrations 



378 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the burden of Christ's last talk and prayer 
with his disciples was, *'It is expedient for 
you that I go away, and if I go not away the 
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost (John 14: 
26} will not come unto you; but if I depart I 
will send him unto you." "When the Com- 
forter is come, whom I shall send unto you 
from the Father, he shall testify of me." 
"And I will pray the Father and he shall give 
you another Comforter that he may abide with 
you forever; even the Spirit of truth whom 
the world can not receive because it seeth 
him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know 
him for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in 
you." "He shall teach you all things and 
shall bring to your remembrance all things 
whatsoever I have said unto you." 

A new kingdom, a spiritual world, was to 
be established. The kingdoms old were to be 
cast in another mold. A new dispensation, a 
new moral firmament was being created. Out 
of the choasof moral darkness boiling iniquity, 
abysms of uncleanness, unrest, and spirit- 
gloom appeared the kingdom of heaven with 
all its order, light, functions authority and 
aims, Pentecost was the beginning of a new 
regime, the Genesis of a new earth. The first 
world was the earth earthy; the second world 
is the kingdom from heaven. The things 
which "Jesus began both to do and to teach, 
until the day in which he was taken up, after 
that he through the Holy Ghost had given 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 379 

commandment unto the apostles whom he had 
chosen, ^ * * to wait for the promise of the 
Father. ^ * - Ye shall receive power, after 
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye 
shall be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem 
and in Judea and unto the uttermost parts of 
the earth." "But tarry ye in Jerusalem till 
ye be endued with power from on high." 

The twelve men whom Jesus had trained 
three and a half years were to proclaim the 
conditions of salvation. Thous^h they had his 
personal instruction, they still were unpre- 
pared to go before the world and herald with 
inerrancy the facts, principles, truths and 
laws upon which the kingdom was to be found- 
ed and by which governed. 

The great facts the apostles knew, but 
they must be guided into all truth, into intel- 
lectual accuracy in stating the requirements 
of Christianity which were to be the constitu- 
tion of a permanent government, in which 
Jews of Nazareth has all authority, both in 
heaven and in earth. The Spirit was not 
given for moral cleansing; but to endue with 
power and bear witness of the truth. 

The Spirit came and confirmed the crown- 
ing, in heaven of Jesus and the time of fulfill- 
ing the prophecy: "It shall come to pass in 
the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of 
my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and 
your daughters shall prophecy, and your young 
men shall see visions and your old men shall 



380 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

dream dreams; yea, and upon mj servants 
and on my hand maidens in those days will I 
pour out of my Spirit; and they shall proph- 
esy." 

Out of the mist, and above the turbulent 
confusion dry land appeared. The Sun of 
Righteousness had arisen with healing in his 
wings, to suffuse hills and valleys with efful- 
gent glory. Though he had gone to the 
Father; yet line the orb of day sinking to his 
chamber at night, sends his light back to 
earth by way of the moon, his light was re- 
flected by Spirit-filled men — '^Ye are the light 
of the world." The churcli had swung open 
the door, and men were invited to enter. Fal- 
low fields were to be broken and the seed of 
the kingdom, the Word of God, is to be sown. 

The Spirit's place is not only at the ia- 
auguration, but in the extension, of the king- 
dom of Christ as its agent. He uses the Word 
of God as the seed of new life, as the sword 
in battle and reproves by it. The world is 
convicted '*of sin, of righteousness and of 
judgement" through it. He is the power in the 
truth which pure men speak; ^'Dotinthe words 
which man's wisdom teaches; but which the 
Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual 
things with spiritual," 

That spirit respects the power of each 
soul to choose its companion. Every heart 
has its secret chamber, and into it nocom pan- 
ion can enter except on invitation. God does 



BY IOWA WRTERS. 381 

Dot intrude himself, and, when invited, will 
remain only so long as a welcome guest. 
Jesus before that door stands and knocks for 
admittance; Satan goes in only when the door 
is ajar for evil ; and the Spirit will not enter 
when the truth is unwelcomed. 

A new life begotten "not by corruptible 
seed, but by incorruptible, by the word of 
God which liveth and abideth forever." We 
appropriate Christ to be justified in him. We 
appropriate the Spirit to be a comforter to us. 
Christ received us as sinners; the Spirit, be- 
cause we are sons, enters into our hearts, 
crying "Abba, Father." He leads and sus- 
tains in trials for the truth, as a tempted 
Lord in the wilderness, and brings the gold 
of human life out of the fire and stamps it 
with the image of Christ. 

'Out of the mine and the darkness, out of the damp 

and the mold, 
Out of the fiery furnace cometh each grain of gold, 
Crushed into atoms, and leveled, down to the humblest 

dust, 
With, never an heart to pity, with never a hand to trust. 

Molten and hammered and beaten, seemeth it ne'er to 

be done; 
Oh, for such fiery trials what has the poor gold done? 
Oh, 'tweer a mercy to leave it down in the damp and 

the mold. 
If this is the glory of living better be dross than gold. 

Under the press and the roller, into the jawsof themint, 
Stamped with the emblem of freedom without a flaw or 
a dint; 



382 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Oh, the joy of refining, out of the damp and the mold 
Stamped with the glorious image, thou beautiful coin of 
gold. 

The devout soul obedient to Christ, "be- 
holding as in a glass the glory of God is chang- 
ed into the same image, from glory to glory, 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

The Spirit mentioned three times in the 
Old Testament, and ninety-four times in the 
New Testament, varies in place, as we have 
seen, from brooding over creation to the in- 
auguration of the church; from moving holy 
men of old to speak, to the indwelling com- 
forter, from the inspiration above wisdom of 
men to the guide into all truth. 

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

By his fruit the Christian has the evi- 
dence of his acceptance with God; and proof 
to the world that he is developing the new 
man ii Christ — "By their fruits ye shall 
know them." Outward form may speak god- 
liness but inwardly deny the power thereof. 
The creed may be venerable, and ritual beau- 
tiful but dead. When the tulip was brought 
into Holland in the 17th century from the 
East, it attracted much attention and rare 
varieties of color were sought, the spirit of 
speculation was awakened and fabulous 
prices were paid for bulbs of this beautiful 
flower. Among all the various hues no blue 
tulip was found — a wealthy horticulturist of- 
fered two thousand dollars fora flo^ver and its 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 383 

bulb of blue — an eastern gardner understand- 
ing the prismatic colors of light, arranged a 
prism so the blue ray fell constantly upon a 
forming bud. When it matured and opened 
it was the coveted color. With bulb and 
blossom the gardner claimed and received the 
reward. When the flower faded and the bulb 
planted the next year the purchaser was 
astonished that it produced the original color 
— not blue. The flower was changed, not the 
plant. Forms and rituals, confessions and 
disciplines, may be followed but without the 
Spirit they are as a sky without stars, a val- 
ley without verdure, a lake without life. 

The fruit of the Spirit is shown in moods 
as well as methods, in motives as well as mo- 
tion. Meditation is a mood that nourishes 
and mellows luscious fruit. Reflection on 
some truth, accompanied by desire to under- 
stand, that future conduct may be shaped by 
it, will show strength increasing in resolu- 
tions. David could say, "I meditate upon thy 
works, O God; I stretch forth my hands to 
thee." The soul may seek to be alone with 
God; but it will not find him in cell and clois- 
ter only, but in stretching the helping hand 
to the thirsty and naked, the hungry and sick, 
the imprisoned and lowly of the earth — minis- 
tering to Him. 

The people of the village of Oberammer- 
gan in Bavaria, represent in drama a passion 
play of the whole life and sufferings of Jesus. 



384 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Every tenth year these simple people choose 
men and women among themselves who best 
represent the temperament of the characters 
who were with Christ. Mr. Myers has rep- 
resented Jesus' in the drama four times and 
his meditatians upon the Christ ^ave so trans- 
formed his personal habits and appearance 
that in him one sees a living picture of some 
master-painter of Jesus. 

Meditation cultivates the soul. Wild ber- 
ries may be found on hillsides and in caves of 
mountains, but regular food must be gathered 
from tilled fields, trained vines and pruned 
orchards. Virtues may be found pure and 
strong, here and there in human life not 
avowedly Christian; but graces most culti- 
vated are richest in foliage and spiritual fruit. 
The apostle to the Gentiles named nine vari- 
eties of fruit of the Spirit: 

Love — what is it? It is the tenderest and 
richest emotion of the soul; the glory and 
depth of our life; the most powerful and most 
dangerous of human attributes— unfathomed 
and unfathomable passion. God is love, and 
affection for him is of the Spirit. "This is 
the love of God that you keep his command- 
ments." 

Joy, — what is joy? It is the Spirit praising, 
rejoicing, exulting. It is more than happi- 
ness. Happiness depends upon something 
happening, but joy springs from a fixed 
course of life in Christ regardless of what 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 385 

happens. It is satisfaction over efforts made 
to serve the Lord. 

Peace. — It is the Spirit in quiet waiting, 
robbed of anxiety, resting in the assurance 
that a supreme power and unfailing ruler will 
pilot through the storm and anchor us in the 
fair haven. 

Long suffering, — Forbearing with those 
who are weak or persecuting, short-sighted 
and contentious. It is abiding the day in 
hope that the erring shall see, eye to eye, and 
the mistakes and persecutions will be ac- 
knowledged faults and reconciliatiou will be 
effected. 

Gentleness. — It is the Spirit mingling with 
men. It is the Christian's manner in busi- 
ness, oa the street, at the social gatherings. 
It is the attitude of the strong toward the 
week, and the consideration of the needy and 
helpless. 

Goodness, — It is the Spirit at work, the 
extended hand to lift up the fallen, the break- 
ing of bread to the hungry, the pouring in of 
oil to the wounded. Goodness is John Har- 
vard improving the prisons of Europe; Moth- 
er Brickerdyke in the army hospital; Clara 
Barton helping down-trodden Armenia and 
feeding starving Cubans. 

Meekness. — It is the Spirit taking lessous. 
Over strings the fingers are directed by the 
Teacher of teachers, till the notes are touched 
that * Vake to ecstacy the living lyre.'' It is 



386 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the teachable mind learning^ of the Master. 

Faith, — It is the truth in action. It is 
the Spirit at war with all that opposes truth 
and righteousness. It is Noah warning his 
wicked neighbors of impending danger. It is 
Gideon cutting down the groves of Baal wor- 
ship and driving away the enemies of Israel. 
It is Asa dethroning his idolatrous mother 
and burning her idols at Kedron. It is John 
the Baptist rebuking sin in high places. It is 
Martin Luther nailing his theses to the door 
of the church at Wittenberg. It is Alexander 
Campbell standing for loyalty to Christ in 
doctrine, name, ordinance and life. It is the 
American army and navy led by Dewey, Samp- 
son, Schley and Shafter driving into the sea 
a tyrannous nation, that feeble hands and 
emaciated bodies may enjoy peace in a free 
government. 

Temperance, — The Spirit controlling the 
body, the mind, appetites and passions. It is 
the * 'bringing of all imaginations and every 
high thing that exhaults itself against the 
knowledge of God into captivity to Christ. 

Such fruit born in the life of a Christian 
will be gathered by the great Husbandman. 
The power to live such a life will touch the 
springs of common humanity and will apply 
the principles of our Messiah to human living. 
It is the power of an extendless life, — a force 
raised to the n'th power and utilszed in the 
practical affairs of men. 




Sumner T. Martin. 



SUMNER. T. MARTIN. 

Sumner T. Martin was born March 16, 1862, ^t 
Uniontown, Belmont County, Ohio. He is the fourth 
child of a family of six boys and two girls. When three 
years of age he removed with his father to Harrison 
County, where he still lives; there he spent his boy- 
hood years at work on the farm, an occupation which 
he always enjoyed and in pursuance of which he showed 
great care and deligence, features that have character- 
all his work and in a large measure have been the 
secret of his splendid success. 

At the age of seventeen he entered the McNeely 
Normal College at Hopedale, Ohio, where he spent two 
years in the public schools near Smithfield, Ohio. 

Being raised by Christian parents and in a home 
of the disciples, he grew up to reverence God and the 
Bible, and at the age of seventeen united with the 
Christian church at Hopedale, Ohio. 

His attention was now directed to the Christian 
ministry, and in the spring of 1883, he entered Bethany 
College to begin his preparation for the preaching of the 
Gospel, In August of the same year he preached his 
jBrst sermon at Flushing, Ohio. 

After a year's stay at Bethany his money gave out; 
so in March, 1884, he left school and went to Sullivan, 
Ashland County, Ohio, where he spent two years in 
preaching for the church at that place. 

He then returned to Bethany and graduated with 
the class of 1887. During the last two years of his col- 
lege course he preached for the church at Ducth Fork, 
Penn. 

Immediately after his graduation he went to Marion, 



390 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Kansas, where he stayed one year. While there he 
was married to Miss LeOta Sheridan, May 3rd, 1885, 
who since that day has been his faithful wife aad true 
helper. Three bright boys have been given them to 
gladen their home, and one little girl has proceeded 
them to the better land. 

He preached one year at Leavenworth, Kansas, and 
in the fall of 1889, held his first protracted meeting at 
Valley Falls, Kansas, resulting in thirty-two additions 
to the church. He continued his evangelistic work 
util February. 1890, when he located as pastor of the 
churches at Valley Falls and North ville Kansas. Two 
years work at these places resulted in 250 baptisms, 
most of tbem heads of families. He considers these two 
years' work among the best of his life. 

In October, 1891, he accepted the position of State 
Evangelist in Kansas and served one year, with a 
total of 630 additions. Three churches were organized, 
his own salary raised and about $4,000 raised for the 
support of the churches assisted. 

In October, 1893, he located at Washington, Kan- 
sas, with the church he had organized the April before 
and spent a year there, during which time a church 
and parsonage were built and dedicated, free from 
debt, at a cost of about $5,000. From here he went to 
Wellington, Kansas, where he spent one year, followed 
by three months of evangelistic work, when his pastor- 
ate at Newton, Iowa, began. After remaining there a 
year and a half, he was called to his present field of 
labor at Mason City, Iowa, where he is enjoying a 
most happy and fruitful ministry with the large and 
prosperous church in that city. During his twenty- 
eight months work at Mason City five hundred persons 
have united with the church. 

As he is yet a young man he has a bright and 
promising future before him, which in the providence 
of Grod will add many souls to the Lord's kingdom and 
many stars to his crown of rejoicing. 

Walter L. Martin. 



LORD'S DAY OBSERVANCE. 

Text: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not 
man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of man is 
Lordalso ot the Sabbath." Mark 2; 27-28. 

This is our Lord's answer to the cavils 
of the Pharisees against His disciples. Pass- 
ing through the corn fields on the Sabbath 
day His disciples plucked and ate the corn to 
satisfy their hunger. At this these strict 
ritualists, these "whited sepulchers," were 
aggrieved. They made complaint to Jesus, 
saying, * 'Behold, why do they on the Sabbath 
day that which is not lawful?" He defends 
them by announcing the principle that the 
Sabbath was a means and not an end; and that 
it was ordained of God for the good of man, 
and hence, for His own glory. When, there- 
fore, the welfare of man or beast creates an 
emergency, the Sabbath law must not stop the 
outflow of the law of love to relieve such neces- 
sity. 

In his support He pleads the case of the 
priests in the Temple who profaned the Sab- 
bath and were blameless (Mark 2; 25-26). And 
of the custom and duty of every man to lead 
his ox or his ass to water ; and if a sheep fell 
into a pit on the Sabbath, to straightway lift 
it out. This was His effective answer to the 



392 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Pharisees who set upon him for healing on the 
Sabbath the man with the withered hand (Matt. 
12; 10-14,) and the woman with the spirit of 
infirmity (Luke 13; 11-17). 

In all this he teaches both by precept and 
example that man is the crown of God's works. 
He is the fruit and flower of which all beiow 
him is but the soil and prophecy. They are 
for him; he is for God and his brothers. 
Created last and made in the image of his 
Creator, he has dominion over all things, and 
returns glory to God in the highest. 

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not 
man for the Sabbath". Here is the secure 
defense of Lord's day sanctityon the one hand; 
and the Charter of Christian liberty on the 
other. This truth guards our blessed rest 
day from enemies without who would secular- 
ize it; and from the more dangerous enemies 
within, who would crush out its life and joy 
with minute and burdensome restrictions. 

A just appreciation of the value and 
sanctity of the Lord's day, and a proper ob- 
servance of it, are matters of vital concern 
to the whole people. Its relation are world 
wide. It is the core and citadel of civilization. 
Just now it is manifestly one of the decisive 
battle-grounds between the friends and en- 
emies of Evangelical Christianity. Patriots 
must bravely defend this bulwark of our 
liberties; and Christians must jealously guard 
this citadel of our faith. If it be taken, our 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 393 

country and our Christianity will both be in- 
imminent danger. 

Let us now look at some evident truths 
involved in this declaration of Jesus, 'The 
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for 
the Sabbath". 

1 The Sabbath is a Divine Institution. 

God ordained it for man. It impressively 
reminded the people of God's rest from Creat- 
ion (Gen. 2; 2-3,) and the Hebrews of their 
rest from the exciting toils and heavy burdens 
of their bondage in Egypt (Deut. 5; 15). Its 
weekly return would bring devout gratitude 
and glad release from toil to those who, for so 
many long, weary years, had known no rest, 
and enjoyed little opportunity for religious 
exercise. The law of the Sabbath, therefore 
exactly suited the needs of the Israelites; and 
God's voice from Sanai's mount, "Remember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. 20; 8,) 
found instant echoes and cheerful wel- 
come in the hearts of all the people. 

The Sabbath law here so emphatically an- 
nounced may have existed from creation. To 
many this appears probable from the fact that 
the division of time into weeks, is found 
among all ancient nations. The Egyptians, 
Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, and Asiatic 
nations furnish distinct traces of it. Nature 
could not have suggested it to man. There 
is nothing in heaven above or in the earth be- 
neath to indicate such a cycle. 



394 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

On the other hand, if the Sabbath law was 
in force from creation, it is passing strange 
we should find but one intimaton of it in the 
history of 2, 500 years. For, after Gen. 2;3, 
sacred history maintains an unbroken silence 
on the whole Sabbath question till we come to 
the miracle of the falling manna in Ex. 16: 22- 
26. When the visible world was brought in- 
to existance, "God blessed the seventh day, 
and sanctified it." (Gen. 2:3). Asa distin- 
guished writer has beautifully said, "Thus 
man's first day of existence was the Sabbath. 
It was God's earliest gift to him, and it is 
now the only relic that has survived the fall. 
It is a branch cut from the tree of life to re- 
mind us that such a tree once grew on earth 
and to carry our thoughts up to that better 
paradise to which it has been transplanted, 
and where it grows now, on the margin of the 
crystal river which the Patmos seer beheld, 
"proceeding out of the throne of God and of 
the Lamb." 

2 The Sahbath and the Lord's Day are 
quite distinct both as to reason and manner of 
observance. 

Consider these facts in proof: — 

1 The Sabbath law set apart the seventh 
day, and that only (Ex. 20:8-11). 

2 The Sabbath law was given to Israel 
alone (Deut. 5:1-3). 

3 It reminded them of God's rest at cre- 
ation, and of their deliverance from bondage 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 395 

in Egypt (Deut. 5:15). 

4 It was a sign of the covenant between 
God and Israel (Ex. 31:12-17; Ezek. 20:20). 

5 It belonged to the covenant or com- 
mandments which was done away in Christ 
(Heb. 8: 6-13; II Cor. 3: 7; 11; Col. 2: 14-17). 

In these positions I stand supported 
not only by God's word, but also by many of 
the weightiest and most honorable names in 
the church of this and other times. If it be 
contended that the Sabbath indicated God's 
purpose to reserve one day out of seven for 
His special glory and worship, I am not dis- 
posed to object. But Holy Scripture quite 
clearly, to my mind, teaches, that the Sab bath 
law was for the Jews alone, and that the Lord's 
day is for all mankind ; and derives its author- 
ity, not from the law of Moses, but from the 
open grave of Jesus, and the example of his 
apostles in keeping the first day as a mem- 
orial of the Lord's resurrection. 

Not long ago the Rev. Dr. Snyder of St. 
Louis, writing in the Globe Democrat^ made 
use of the following strong language on this 
point: — 

''The Sabbath day of the old biblical dis- 
pensation is the seventh day of the week. 
Any Israelite would have been amazed to hear 
the suggestion that any man could observe 
the Sabbath upon any other day. There is 
not, a word or hint in the Bible that the 
miracle of the falling manna testified to the 



396 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

specfie twenty-four hours between sunset on 
Friday till sunset on Saturday. To attempt 
to transfer all the sanctions of the Sabbath 
from the seventh day of the week to the first 
day is a monstrous perversion of the Script- 
ures. All of the early Protestant reformers 
knew this. Luther condemed the Sabbatar- 
ians as strong-ly as Robert Ingersoll could 
possibly do. He said that the Jewish Sabbath 
was absolutely abolished. It was the shadow 
of things to come. In this, of course, he was 
but following Paul. The observance of the 
first day of the week was based upon other 
grounds entirely. The connection between 
the Christian day of worship and the Jewish 
day of rest can not be established in the New 
Testamect. It is futile and foolish to make 
any such claim. No man can logically go 
back to the fourth commandment for the 
basis of any claim made for what is, inaccura- 
tely, called the "Christian Sabbath, " There 
never was any Christian Sabbath. Our week- 
ly anniversary commemorates the resurrect- 
ion of Christ, and nothing else. The histori- 
cal evidence for this is overwhelming and con- 
clusive, and there never has been any serious 
attempts to refute it. The present orthodox 
idea of the Sabbath dates back to the end of 
the sixteenth century, when the Protestant 
Church sought biblical authority for all it 
did." 

Prof. George P. Fisher, of Yale Divinity 



BY IOWA WKITERS. 397 

School, lends the weight of his name and 
scholarship to the same position: 

In his History of the Christian Churchy 
page 448, he says: — "Respecting the obser- 
vance of the Lord's day, the Reformers, in- 
cluding Knox, Luther and Calvin, refused to 
identify the New Testament institution with 
the Old Testament Sabbath, or to found the 
observance of Sunday on the Statute in the 
decalogue." This was also the view, he says' 
of Milton and John Bunyan, as of most of the 
learned Angleican divines. 

I count myself happy to be able to add 
the testimony of Wm. E. Gladstone to the 
same effect: In McClure's Magazine for 
March '95, he says: — "The obligatory force of 
the Fourth Commandment as touching on the 
seventh day is distroyed by the declaration of 
Paul (Col. 2: 16) that we are liable to be judg- 
ed or coerced by none in respect of Sabbabh 
days. This command was addressed, as is 
obivious, especially to Jews who had become 
Christians, so that it applies with an even 
enhanced force to us who have never been 
under the obligations of the Mosaic law," 

This was certainly Paul's understanding 
of the matter. He says in Rom. 6:14, "We 
are not under the law, but under grace." 
Again in Col. 2:14, he declares that "Christ 
took the law out of the way, nailing it to his 
cross." He affirms that "the law was our 
schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, and that 



398 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

since Christ is come we are no longer under 
a school master." Gal. 3:24-25. In Rom. 7:4, 
he says, "we are become dead to the law by 
the body of Christ, that we might be married 
to another, even to him who is raised from 
the dead." 

When on the mount of Transfiguration 
God's voice out of the cloud declared "This is 
my beloved Son, hear ye him," (Matt. 17:6,) 
he certainly meant that Moses and Elijah, the 
giver and restorer of the law, here surren- 
dered their authority and teaching functions 
to Christ, the heaven-sent teacher, and onl^^ 
rightful authority in the Christian dispensa- 
tion. "All authority, he says," is given unto 
me in heaven and in earth.'' On the cross he 
affirms the same thing when he says, "It is 
finished." Here and now the law is fulfilled 
as stated in Matt. 5:17-18, "I am not come to 
destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say un- 
to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or 
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, 
till all he fulfilled y But the death of Christ 
was its fulfillment. "For Christ took the law 
out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Christ 
is the end of the law for righteousness to them 
that believe." The law has accomplished its 
work. It has added till the seed should come^ 
which is Christ. Gal. 3:19,16. 

The seed has come. Christ ha? suffered. 
The time has come to established a better 
covenant on better promises. (Eeb. 8:6). The 



BY IOWA WRTERS. 399 

new covenant^ ratified, not in the blood of bulls 
and of goats, but in the precious blood of 
Christ, comes now to take the place of the old 
which decayeth, and waxeth old, and is ready 
to vanish away. (Heb. 8:13). 

The cross of Christ is the point of separ- 
ation between the old and new covenants. 
This clearly grasped rescues the Sabbath 
question from the confusion into which it has 
been plunged by a mixing of the covenants^ and 
at the same time, gives to Christians a secure 
Scriptural position against which seventh- 
day-ism, and a hard and cold formatism 
dashes itself in vain. Hence, we maintain 
(1) that the Lord'sday is binding on the 
Christian Church now, by virtue of nothing 
contained in the law of Moses, but by reason 
of the example of Christ's apostles, who from 
the begining celebrated the day of our Lord's 
resurrection, by meeting on that day for wor- 
ship and to break bread. (1 Cor. 16:2. Acts 
20:7). (2) That the day fittingly commem- 
orates, not a national deliverance of the Jews; 
but a personal deliverance of all mankind 
from the bondage of Satan, sin and death. 
Another chain of events designates this day 
as a day of joy and thanksgiving. For on the 
first day of the week, God sent the Holy 
Spirit to baptize with power the waiting dis- 
ciples at Pentecost, and on this day the 
Church of Christ was born in Jerusalem. 

"With the resurrection began for the 



400 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Savior Himself a rest from ail-that was pain- 
ful in the process of redemption, as on the 
seventh day there had begun a rest from the 
constructive labors that had brought the visi- 
ble world into existence and maturity. The 
seventh day was the festival of the old life, 
accompanied with an exemption from its di- 
vinely appointed burdens. The first day was 
the festival of the new life, and was crowned 
with its constant and joyous exercise." The 
Sabbath to the Jew was a day hedged in by 
the severest restrictions. The Lord's day to 
a Chriatian is a blessed day of joy and grati- 
tude for victory in Christ over sin and the 
grave. It is, too, a day all full of hallowed 
memories of an angel-fiiled tomb and a heaven- 
sent Spirit, the one bringing hope, and the 
other courage, to the dispirited and scattered 
band of Jesus' disciples. 

In view of these facts, and for the sake 
of uniformity among Christians in calling Bible 
things by Bible names, would it not be better 
to "Speak as the oracles of God," and call our 
holy rest day the Lord's day, after the pat- 
tern given us by John, the Beloved, in Rev. 
1:10? The first day of the week is never 
spoken of in Scripture as the Sabbath. This 
is admitted on all hands. Do we not honor 
God's word and acknowledge Christ in the use 
of the Scriptural designation — '-'The Lord's 
DayV Sound speech is much to be desired 
at this point. 



BY. IOWA WRITERS. 401 

Dr. Meredith, of Boston, once told his 
mammoth teachers' class that the common 
habit of designating the Lord's day the Sab- 
bath was very unfortunate. ''Why not quit 
it then?" some one called out in the audience. 
The doctor's reply was that he never expected 
now to see the error corrected. But if every 
Christian who is convinced of the difference 
between the two days, would always call them 
by their Bible names, the reform would soon 
become general. 

3, Man Needs the Lord^s Day, 

His physical, social, and religious nature 
demands it. ''All experience shows that a 
Sabbathless community is a godless, immoral, 
and generally a thriftless community. Hence 
he is an enemy of society and of reli^cion who 
would break down the restraints of such a 
weekly rest in the community." Mr. Glad- 
stone says: "Sunda}^ is a necessity for the 
retention of man's mind and of a man's frame 
in a condition to discharge his duties." He 
who breaks the Lord's day "hateth his own 
flesh," and robs his own body. "He dips up 
the wine of his own life and throws it away." 

In these facts, admitted on all hands, lie 
the only just ground for Sunday legislation. 
O f course, the State has no right to try to 
make men religious by law. But Sunday 
laws grow out of the fact that a cessation of 
toil and a day of quiet mightily promotes the 
interests and protects the rights of citizens. 



402 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Joseph Cook says: ''Give America, from sea 
to sea, the Parisian Sunday, and in two hun- 
dred years all our great cities will be poli- 
tically under the heels of the feather heads, 
the roughs, the sneaks, and the money- 
gripes," Hallam says: "A holiday Sabbath 
is the ally of despotism." 

Organic and inorganic matter proclaims 
and demands Sunday rest. Animals, engines 
and iron machines, as well as men, require a 
weekly rest day. "Some forty years ago a 
company of neighbors in Indiana decided to 
move together to Oregon. A long line of 
covered wagons joined in the procession. The 
Lordsday came. The leader, Dr. Chandler, 
was firm that they should carefully rest every 
Sunday during all the three month's journey. 
Others insisted that they could not afford the 
time; they must travel seven days each week. 
The company was nearly equally divided; a 
part drove on without any regard for the 
Lordsday; the others rested their teams in 
absoloute quiet every seventh day. The re- 
sult gives to the world a very interesting item 
of history. The Lordsday observers reached 
Oregon several days in advance with teams 
far fresher than the party who had no time 
for Sunday rest." 

That man and animals will do more work, 
do it better, have better health and live long- 
er by laboring six days and resting the 
seventh, than by working seven days each 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 403 

week, has been conclusively demonstrated 
by extensive and careful observations and 
experiments. Notable among these was the 
experiment of the managers of the 3rd Ave- 
nue railroad in New York, with the result 
that each gang of horses was given one-seventh 
of the time for rest. 

Many and conclusive are the testimonies that 
engines last many times longer when allowed 
to thoroughly cool every seven days. The 
chief engineer ol the Northern Railway, of 
England, was directed by the company, to 
make a thorough investigation of the cause of 
their continual losses from the breaking of 
car axles. Having done so he reported that 
the only method of preventing the destruction 
of iron was by alio wing it to cool off, thoroughly 
every seven days, in short to allow the car- 
axle a weekly rest day. 

In all literature there is hardly a more 
pathetic appeal for a day of rest, than that 
made in the famous plea of 450 engineers on 
the Vanderbilt lines. They declared that 
their un-ending toil was breaking them down 
in body and in mind; that they were deprived 
of the church, family and social privileges 
which others enjoyed; that their children were 
being demoralized by their Sunday work; 
that they could do as much work in six days 
as they could in seven; that their lack of rest 
unfitted them for the alertness of mind and 
promptness of action which their terrible 



404 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

responsibility for human lives demanded; and 
that they were willing, if need be, to do ten 
days' work in six days, if only they might 
have their Sunday. But Greed was unmoved 
by this piteous cry of humanity; and their re- 
quest was refused. Sir Robert Peel said, '*I 
never knew a man to escape failure in either 
body or mind, who worked seven days in the 
week." 

What touching pathos in the child's re- 
quest of its mother, "Let us pray God, mamma, 
to make an eighth day^ so papa can have a day 
to be at home with us." Said a railway en- 
gineer, "For seven years I have not had one 
Sabbath at home with my family." 

2. Man's moral and religious nature de- 
mands the Lord^s day. A corruption of morals 
quickly follows a profanation of this day. 
"Sunday, the tallest white angel now on earth," 
has both hands full of gifts for men. If we 
allow the black angels of Greed, or Pleasure, 
or Atheism to usurp her throne, the sweet 
ministers of mercy and religion will soon be 
banished. The Lord's day is the Ark of the 
Covenant for the safe keeping of the jewels of 
libert}^ and Christianity. This pearl of great 
price must be jealously guarded by a loyal 
church. Emerson beautifully says: "Chris- 
tianity has given us the Sabbath, the jubilee 
of the whole world, whose light dawns welcome 
alike into the closet of the philosopher, into 
the garret of toil, and into prison cells, and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 405 

everywhere suggests, even to the vile, the 
dignity of spiritual being." 

"O holy, holy rest 
Toil folds its hands, its six days' work is done, 
And heaven and earth, embracing, blend in one." 

Voltaire is reputed to have said: "There 
is no hope of destroying the Christian religion 
so long as the Christian Sabbath is acknowl- 
edged and kept by men as a sacred day." 

Just here is the vital point. Sunday must 
be kept as a sacred day^ if we are to keep it as 
a day of rest for all. Worship is the last and 
best use of the Lord's day, the crown and 
glory of our rest and recreation. No better 
rest than that which comes when the heart 
rests on God, no diviner recreation than that 
new creation which comes by the Spirit's work 
in our souls. To all this the Lord's day is 
the noblest agency. On this blessed day the 
soiled clothes and sordid cares belonging to 
the world should Ve laid aside; and with clean 
person, restored vigor, sweet social commun- 
ion, and glad release from toil, should earth's 
millions, with joy, draw water out of the wells 
of salvation. 

Here has the church a blessed opportun- 
ity, a tremendous responsibility. Clothed in 
the white robes of righteousness. Gospel- shod 
and panoplied by Heaven, she must point the 
way to Lord's day use and keeping, and ever 
walk therein herself. Judgment must begin 
at the house of God. Rightly reverenced and 



406 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

religiously observed by Christiacs, the world 
will have an object lesson, both of its beauty 
and its benefits, which it cannot easily over- 
look or disregard. The Lord's day is pre- 
eminently the Christians' day. It is in our 
keeping. If we do not care for our own, fools 
are we to blame others. It is manifest that 
we Christians must make the most of the 
Lord's day in our heartS; our homes, and our 
churches, if we intend to conserve it for our 
society, our cities, and our state. 

In 1880, the legislature of Massachusetts 
was memorialized by a committee from a re- 
ligious convention held in Boston. The legis- 
lature replied: "The trouble is with you of 
the ministry and the churches. So long as 
you buy Sunday papers, and use Sunday trains, 
bakeries, markets and barber-shops, little can 
be done for Sunday observance." It is to be 
hoped the well-merited rebuke was heeded, 
and that the physician proceed to heal himself. 
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, in his report of the 
Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor 
for 1885 on Sunday labor, aimed these arrows 
of truth at the breast of the church members: 

"The inauguration and establishment of 
the Suaday local train S3'stem on the railroads 
which center in Boston was wholly the work 
of church-going-people; and that it was, also, 
for their convenience in going to special 
churches to which they had become attached. 
It was not called for, however, by any neces- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 407 

sity in enabling them to attend upon the wor- 
ship of God. Briefly stated, church-going peo- 
])le for church-going purposes are the prime 
cause of the running of horse cars on Sunday 
in this Commonwealth." 

They may have deluded their souls with 
the plausible argument that the object was so 
religious, God would excuse the means used. 
I once heard of a small boy who was reproved 
b}' the preacher for flying his kite on Sunday. 
He defended his apparently wicked conduct 
by saying, "Why, parson, this kite is all right. 
It is made out of copies of the Christian Ad- 
vocate^ and the tail is made out of tracts. 

Chief among the forces arrayed aginstthe 
proper use of the Lord's day is the saloon. 
Being the enemy of all law and decency, of 
course the Saloon opposes Sunday closing. In 
view of this fact, and the further fact that 
church members by their votes license the 
saloon to destroy manhood and beggar society 
for six days in the week, some one has proposed 
the following substitute for the Fourth Com- 
mandment: 

•'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
desecrated. Six days shall thou have open 
saloons, and do all that thou canst to steal 
men's money, destroy men's bodies and damn 
m^n's souls. But the seventh day is the one 
above all the rest in which thou shalt commit 
the most frightful deeds. On it thou shalt 
appropriate the week's wages of the laboring 



408 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

man, prevent him and his family from going 
to any place of divine worship, transform the 
place called home into a hell, and the father of 
the family into a demon. 

"For during six days the Republican and 
Democratic parties, hy the votes of church mem- 
hers, have licensed thee to curse heaven and 
earth, and all that in them is; but behold the 
time is too short in which to doit. Wherefore, 
thou shalt violate the law of God and man, and 
make up in thy work of damnation on the 
Sabbath day all that thou could st not accom- 
plish in the other six days of the week." 

2. The Sunday newspaper is another 
menace to our blessed rest day. They vomit 
their filth into the homes a.nd minds of their 
readers on the Lord's day, unfitting their 
readers for our religious worship, and Christ- 
ian culture. Tens of thousands of men are 
employed in their production, and other 
thousands of boys are taught to disregard the 
Lord's day by their sale. Christians should 
refuse to buy or read a Sunday paper. 

Christians could the more readily refrain 
from riding on Sunday trains if they would 
have in mind the fact that more than 250,000 
men in the United States are deprived of their 
rest day by the running of these trainsc 

The Government orders Post Masters to 
open on Sunday only where public sentiment 
in the community requires it. This being so, 
should not Christians refuse to get their 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 409 

mail on the Lord's day, and so help to give the 
150,000 men employed in the mail service their 
day of rest? The barbers, bankers, butchers, 
livery men, and dairymen^ may have a Sun- 
day rest, if Christians refrain from patroniz- 
ing them on the Lord's day. 

The responsibility rests with us, there- 
fore. Not by legislation so much, as by our 
own earnest and holy observance of the Lord's 
day are we to stem the tide of Sunday dese- 
cration. "Actions speak louder than words," 
and will win the battle. Let us make the day 
the happiest day of all the week in our homes. 
Let the children be brought up in an atmos- 
phere of reverence for the Lord's day. Let 
us prize it for its opportunity of family fellow- 
ship, of Bible teaching, of intellectual and 
spiritual stimulus in the house of God. Let 
us take our children by the hand and lead 
them to public worship twice on Sunday. Let 
us cheerfull}'^ avoid Sunday traveling or driv- 
ing for amusement. Let us crown the day 
with sweet home ministries, and works of 
charity and mercy, and our children will rise 
up and call us blessed ; and the safeguards of 
virtue and religion will hold them true to God 
and humanity. 

This blessed day is the soul's breathing 
space. It offers to all the pure air of holy 
thoughts, of religious worship, of Christly 
service. To poison the day with willing secu- 
lar pursits is to smother the life of religion in 



410 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the soul. Nine-tenths of our Christian nur 
ture depends on the privileges of the Lord's 
day. The soul withers without it. It would 
choke to death if compelled to live in the 
heavy atmosphere of weary toil, and selfish 
aims, and worldly thoughts for all the time. 
But the Lord's day calls a pause to this mad 
rush. It opens our windows heavenward and 
lets in the light of God. It brings man up 
from the low plains of time to the lofty pro- 
montories of God. His bark, tempest-tossed 
and storm-driven for six days, has sailed into 
a peaceful harbor, and rests now, with sails 
all furled, on the quiet bosom of the river of 
life. Rob the world of the Lord's day, and it 
is like blotting out the stars of hope, and ex- 
tinguishing the Son of Righteousness in the 
moral heavens. 

''The Sundays of man's life, 

Threaded together on Time's string, 

Make bracelets to adorn the wife 

Of the eternal, glorious King. 

On Sunday heaven's gates stand ope; 

Blessings are plentiful and rife, 
More plentiful than hope." 
We have here no continuing city. We 
seek one to come. We are citizens of two 
worlds. More souls there are in the city of 
God than here on the lonely shore that we call 
the earth. From many a stony pillow on our 
hard, earth journey, these heavenly watchers 
erect a golden ladder, and minister to us while 
below. They wait our coming in the unseen 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 411 

world. What music of earth is most charming 
to their ears ? Is it the voice of rural labor, 
the ploughboy's whistle, and the milkmaid's 
song? Is it the sound of piek-ax in the mine 
the whir of wheel in the factory, the hum of 
industry in the marts of trade, the clink of 
dollars in the vauJts of wealth? 

I doubt not that those of whom death has 
bereaved us look backward to earth and are 
gladdest when they see us assembled in the 
church of God, feasting on the food of His 
word, and sending up the holy incense of 
prayer and praise to the Father above. To 
our loved ones gone before, I think earth's 
sweetest song must be. 

"Welcome delightful morn, 

Sweet day of sacred rest. 

We hail thy kind return, 

Lord, make these moments blest. 

From the low train of mortal toys, 

We soar to reach immortal joys." 



^ 










m 



b. n. Lh.MoN. 



E R LEMON 

This earnest, energetic and successful preacher of 
the gospel is of Scotch parents. His mother was born 
off the coast of Newfoundland enroute to Philadelphia 
and was named by the captain after his vessel. Adellaide 
Montezuma Kater. His father was a descendant of an 
influential Scotch family of Glascow, Scotland. In early 
life he was a United States regular and served the gov- 
ernment in the Florida war and holds an honorable dis- 
charge for five years' service. He was also a member 
of a merchants company that doubled Cape Horn in 
1849 for the gold fields of California where he remained 
three years, returning to Philadelphia with a goodly 
treasure. Early in the Fifties ha moved to the state of 
Wisconsin and engaged in farming. On a farm one 
mile and a half west of Evansville, Rock county, on 
Christmas evening the subject of our sketch, Frank 
Hey Lemon, was born. 

He has four sisters and five brothers living and 
one baby sister sleeps. Two of his brothers, H. A. and 
J. C, are ministers of the gospel. When a child, his 
father moved to Union county, Iowa, with the large 
family, where they grew up. 

Bro. Lemon is light complexioned. He weighs 150 
pounds and is five feet ten and one-half inches high. 
His appearance in the pulpit is both commanding and 
impressive. He is at perfect ease before an audience. 
With his tall, slender and perfect form, his eloquent 
words and graceful jesture, his earnest look, his sig- 
nificant nod, his musical and penetrating voice, he has 
absolute control over a popular audience. His father 
and mother were devoted members of the Methodist 
Episcopal chnrch. At fourteen years of age, Frank 



416 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

was moved by the preaching of the gospel but did not 
yield for several months. During this time he read 
and reread the New Testament scriptures and often 
weDt because he was not a Christian. At last, in the 
beautiful month of May, at the Union City (Kent) 
Church of Christ he was baptized into Christ in the 
Platte River by the faithful hands of A. J. Garrison. In 
a private letter he says, "That was he happiest day of 
my life. My soul was free. The air was sweet and 
pure. Every bod}'' was good. I had no enemies. The 
gospel promises were so dear." He entered Drake 
University. He had $100 in cash and he was thrown 
entirely upon his own resources. 

In the summer of 1889 there came a call from the 
C. W. B. M. of Ontario, Canada, to Dean D. R. ])ungan 
for a man to go into '"'the great northwest territory of 
Manitoba" and he recommended F. Hey Lemon. He 
accepted the work. He organized a church, built a 
house of worship and dedicated it in a single year. He 
came back to Iowa to his old home at Kent and em- 
ployed with them for one year. Over thirty were added 
during the year. He then took the worK at Carson 
and Oakland. 

He was married to Miss Odessa Walters, December 
21, 1892. at Exira, Iowa, Pres. Barton O. Aylesworth 
officiating. She was the daughter of Elder J. A. Wal- 
ters, one of our devoted ministers. The marriage of 
Frank and Odessa was indeed a happy one. Dessa 
was a devoted Christian girl and a sweet singer. But, 
alas, "the last enemy" was closely pursuing her and 
after a long illness of untold suffering, she departed 
this life November 12, 1896, to live with God. Bro. 
Lemon says, "She was the joy of my life and her spirit 
of beauty and song will never go out." He attended 
her day and night, went with her down to Jordan's 
brink and the angels caught her away from his em- 
brace of glory. He removed to Altoona in December. 
1893. and remained with the church four years. At 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 417 

RisiD^ Sue the brick church was rebuilt ao at an ex- 
pense of $1,500. He then accepted a call to Like City, 
Iowa, where he now resides. He began his work there 
with a meeting with one hundred and three additions. 
They now have a SI2,000 church out of debt. He grad- 
uated from Drake University in the year '91. He was 
Corresponding Secretary of the Southwest District for 
two years and has filled other places of honor. He has 
helped build and dedicate six churches. Has conduct- 
ed revival meetings in which he added to the saved 
over eight hundred souls. 

He is a sermonizer. Never takes a manuscript 
into the pulpit. Studies his sermons until his soul is 
filled with his theme and when he takes his place to 
preach it seems that every fibre of his being is bro't 
into play. 

He studies out new methods. He has a happy fac- 
ulty peculiar to himself in preluding his Sunday eve- 
ning services by quoting from our papers, giving num- 
ber of converts the past week, churches dedicated, con- 
ventions held, the number of colleges we have, their 
attendance et cetera. 

In a protracted meeting he makes these and similar 
announcements every night. The writer heard him in 
this prelude for twenty-eight consecutive nights, and 
the interest grew in my own heart from start to finish. 
A man said to me, "I would rather hear Lemon make 
those announcements than to hear some men preach," 
(and I was doing the preaching too). His greatest 
power in my judgment is in his wonderful memory. 
It seems he has the entire New Testament committed. 
He is thoroughly abrest with the times, is acquainted 
with every advance movement. Lee B. Myers, 



CONVERSION 

Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and 
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the 
kingdom of heaven — Jesus. Matt. 18:3, 

I am glad to meet you to-night friends. 
As you are aware, my subject is assigned to 
me. I will preach tbie best I cau considerinor 
the large and strange audience. I am pleased 
however to recognize many of my children in 
the Gospel, and many brethren whom I have 
learned to love in days gone by. There may 
have been disappointments to me in my minis- 
"ury, but 1 am glad God has been good to me in 
giving me much people to whom I may preach. 
To all these preachers I should sa}^ I am not 
talking especially to them. Many of them 
know more than I do. I will tr}" and be my- 
self, and you be yourselves; and may we all 
be true to God as we come to study his WorJ. 

''For this people's heart is waxed gross, 
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their 
eyes they have closed ; lest at any time they 
should see with their eyes, and hear with their 
ears, and should understand with their heart, 
and should be converted and I should heal 
them." Matt. 13:15. Read also, Mk. 4:12; Lu. 
22:32; John 12:40 (these four quotations are 
from Isa. 6:9-10); Acts 3-19; 28:27; Jas. 5:20. 



BY IOWA WRTERS. 419 

Now we have including the text, the nine pas- 
sages in the Bible, where this word ''be eon- 
verted" appears; and I want you to kindly read 
them when you get home and see if this is 
right. Your mind has been disturbed upon this 
question and you have wondered if indeed you 
''were converted," or if you could tell 
just when and where you "were converted. " 
Ail this sad state of affairs comes from 
negelct of Bible Study. And now in this 
series of meetings I am going to be simple 
and God helping me I will make it plain — 
help you to understand it. Som3 other time 
I will study rhetoric, and quote poetry with 
you, but souls a^e at stake now; and God's 
word is the only guide that can lead us out of 
this mist and shadow into the sunlight of 
eternal truth, where the stain shall be bleach- 
ed from our souls, and where we shall find 
rest in believeing. 

We have two words here to which I cal) 
your special attention: They are the words 
"be converted." I have brouifht to the pul- 
pit tonight the revised version of 1881, by 
seventy learned divines of America an J 
Europe. Many translations aro corrected in 
it. And here I note, that in eight of the nine 
cases, the words "be converted" are translat- 
ed "turn ' or "turn again;" James 5:20 being 
the only exception. 

Now let us read Matt. 13:15 in the old and 
in the new; ia one text t tie mia is "turned" 



220 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

(be converted) in the other he "turns." The 
first is passive the second is active. Wnich 
would you rather do, be struck? or strike a 
man? All right; that is the difference in these 
renderings. The Greek New Testament is on 
my table; the word translated is strepho, and 
is active. The new version is right, the old 
one is wrong. I don't feel very warm toward 
King James because of this hurtful thino"; and 
I don't feel very much warmer toward the 
preachers living in the sunlight of intelligence 
of the last decade of the nineteenth century 
who mystify the people upon this subject. Isa. 
6:9-10: reads "convert" or "turn;" active, not 
"be converted." The Savior quotes this pro- 
prophecy correctly — the Savior's words must 
stand. You ask me how this is, I answer that 
there is an old and false doctrine read into 
the scriptures. 

The doctrine is this; that we are born to- 
tally depraved; or "hereditarj^, total, deprav- 
ity." This docLrlne being true — that a man 
is absolutely dead in sin it follows that dead 
things cannot act till acted upon; Hence, the 
teaching that no man can come to God until 
God hrht works a miracle and quickens, or 
makes alive the dead man by His Spirit. So 
you have it — "be converted'' — indicating that 
God is going to come and convert him. 

You ask if anyone believes this doctrine 
now, I repl\, y^^s! I quote from one of the 
popular creeds of our day revised to 1897: "Of 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 421 

depravity: We believe that man is fallen from 
original righteousness, and, apart from the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Chsist, is notentirely 
destitute of holiness, but is inclined to evil 
and only evil and that coutinually." Can you 
state it any stronger than that? I could quote 
it from the rest of them if time would permit. 
I give you one more instance: 

"Rev." A. Stands with me on the bank of 
the Sackatuman River, in the Queen's domain, 
in the early ides of May. Many dead fish are 
floating down the river, white side up, and he 
says, "a sinner is just as dead and powerless 
to act toward God as those fish," pointing to 
the river. 

"1 have some serious objections to this 
distorted doctrine. You mean by Hereditary 
at birth do you?" 

"Rev." A. "Yes." 

"And by total or entirely you mean all 
or the whole, or the brillance do you?" 

"Rev. "A. "Yes." 

"And Depravity means devilish does it?'^ 

"Rev." A. "No." 

"Well it means bad, corrupt, vitiate does 
it?" 

"Rev." A. "Yes" 

"Rev." A; Iwantyoutogowith me to this 
house, up the street, where the little babe is, and 
take it from its mother's arms; and say to it 
in my presence. 'At birth. Baby, you are 
totally, entirely, corrupt or bad. Now the 



422 DOCTRNE AND LIFE 

very Devil himself could not be worse than 
all bad ; and so you virtually say to this child, 
'You little Devil; there is not a solitary ^ood 
thing in you ; you are totally depraved ; You 
are as black as ink.' That mother would 
snatch that child from your arms and press it 
to her bosom; and, kissing away its fright, she 
would declare it as pure as the downy snow- 
flakes that fall in this northern climate; as 
pure as the dew-drops sparkling upon 
the grass in the month of May; as pure as the 
white rose that unfolds its delicate petals to 
welcome the first rays of the morning sun. 
The little delicate or, with its racing pulse 
and soft skin, is the embodiment of innocence. 
Of such IS the kingdom of Heaven." 

No, I don't believe the doctrine; and if 
you don't believe it why don't you renounce 
the creed that teaches it? A closer study of 
the Bible will reveal to you that while man 
has bad in him he also has good in him. What 
man is there in your community that has not 
some good in him? Who has not a tender cord 
that cannot be touched? To this implanted 
good, through the gospel of the Son, God ap- 
peals. Jesus talks to men in all conditions of 
life as though they were capable of turning 
from their sinful wa^^s unto life. In Matt. 
11:28 you read: "Come unto me all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you 
rest." How would it sound to address that 
language to persons as dead and powerless as 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 423 

the fish in the Saskatuwan river that Jack 
Frost had held in iron grasp for the last five 
years. The text — Matt. 13:15— implies that 
they could hear, could see, could understand 
and turn. The commission of the resurrected 
Lord (Mark 16:15, 16; teaches us that G-odwas 
to send the preacher and that men were to 
hear and believe. In the superb sermon on 
the mount (Matt. 7:24) Jesus pronounces a 
destiny upon those who refuse. Men can be- 
lieve (John. 8:24). Men in the days of the 
apostles did not know they were powerless to 
act toward God; hence, there is no prayer 
like this recorded in the Bible: — "O Lord, 
send now the Holy Ghost and command it to 
do its office work and quicken these dead 
souls." On the other hand, we do read the 
prayer of the stricken soul. On the day of 
Pentecost, at the setting up of the Church of 
Christy Peter (who had the keys of the king- 
dom) speaks by the Holy Spirit and believing 
men cry out (Acts 2:37, 38) ''Men and breth- 
ren what shall we do?" . And Peter said unto 
them, "Repent ye and be baptized in the name 
of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your 
sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Ghost." When you ask what to do you ex- 
pect to do something. — "And he (Peter) shall 
tell thee what thou oughtestto do" (Acts 10:6). 

''Bro. Lemon, now tell us what is included 
in conversion?" 

It includes all that stands between the 



424 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

alien sinner and a complete acceptance with 
God. I don't like to see any "milk and water" 
conversions. The entire life must be adjust- 
ed and brought unto harmony. 2 Cor. 5:17. 
Jesus the mightiest of all reformers ignores 
the traditions and false teachings; and, as the 
thunderbolt rends the skies, he tramples them 
beneath his feet; and, as the lightning, he 
commands the dross to be burned. Hear his 
bold reply to the Jewish ruler (John 3:3): "Ye 
mast be born again." Read also Luke 9:23. 
We mubt come unto the "marvelous light of 
the Son of God." 

"Does conversion include faith?" Yes. 
"Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be 
saved ^ '' " ^ "Acts 16:31; John 8:24. 

"Does conversion ioclude repentance?" 
Yes. "Repent ye, therefore, and turn asrain 
that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19; 
Acts'l7:30. 

"Does conversion include confession of 
faith?" Yes. "Everyone, therefore, who 
shall confess me before men, him will I also 
confess before my Father which is in heav- 
en" Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:10. 

"Does conversion include baptism?" Yes 
— "He that belie veth and is baptized shall be 
saved * " Mark 16:16; ^ '' John 3:5. 
"For as maay of you as were baptized into 
Christ, did put on Christ. Gal. 3:27. 

My brother do not these steps take us 
into Christ, and hence — conversion? Do not 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 425 

they comprehend the whole of man? The 
reason they are so perfect in their arrange- 
ment is because Grod is their author. They 
are beautiful; they are logical; they are com- 
plete. 

Faith to melt, soften and purify the heart 
(Acts 9:15) — "cleansing their hearts by faith." 
I do not want a religion that is not a heartfelt 
religion, because it is not God's kind. Faith 
or belief must break up the heart's affections 
as well as occupy the mind Rom 10:10; Matt. 
5:8. Repentance to change the will and to 
turn us from the obduracy that has held us 
spellbound against God and all that was good 
and holy. 

Confession. The tongue that may have 
spoken evil of the highest dignitaries of heav- 
en's courts is now to pronounce in humility, 
and yet with exceeding joy, the name of 
Christ. Ministering angels bear the news 
to the interceding Savior while heaven's bor- 
ders are made to ring with exultant jo}^ Bap- 
tism to change the state — "into Christ." 
' 'B ut thanks be to God that whereas ye were ser- 
vants of sin, ye become obedient from the 
heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye 
were delivered" (Rom. 6:17). This one great 
act of loving obedience is a living and beauti- 
ful testimony to all the world that we believe 
that he bore our sins, and that the stain is 
washed from our souls by the crimson blood 
that flowed from his side in death. 



426 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Some years since in the town of O — a lady 
of culture came to our meetings. She was not 
used to frequenting the public assembly be- 
cause she was lame. She heard the story of 
Christ's love and it was sweet to her. Her 
heart was opened, and she came to confess 
her SivLor. Next night, whea she came to 
be baptized, she came forward with her crutch 
and an awful silence reigned over the packed 
audience. As the brethren came to take her 
crutches and let her down into the water, I 
said to her, ''I will hold 3^ou and not let 3'ou 
fall." Then with perfect faith and trust she 
"was buried with Him through baptism into 
death." I raised her from the water, her 
face seemed beaming with unspeakable joy as 
she gazed toward Heaven. That audience 
melted to tears and we wept together for joy. 
That was one of the most beautiful faces I 
ever beheld. The years may cause my 
strength to fail, and my head may be whitened 
with age; but time can never cause me to for- 
get the emotions of my heart in that moment, 
and the impressions upon my mind will never 
be aff aced. The Lord's symbolic ordinance is 
more beautiful tome now and has a richer and 
deeper import. Heb. 5:8-9. 

This noble woman came out of seclusion 
into fellowship. Depressed spirits changed 
into ''there is gladness in my soul." I shall 
meet Sister in heaven. 

"What are the powers that convert?' 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 427 

The Savior tells you in his commission to his 
chosen apostles: "Go preach the gospel" 
(Mark 16:15, 16). He wanted them to preach 
the gospel in order that a sin-cursed and 
hopeless nation might convert and be saved. 
That the world might see through it the 
smiles of a loving Savior's face and be drawn 
to him. John 6:44, 45; Rom. 1:16; Heb. 4:12. 

This word is the sword of the Spirit. 
This sword would conquer Spain or 5'ou(Eph. 
6:17). The brave, yet tender-hearted prophet 
understood its power: "Is not my word like 
a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer, 
breaketh the rock in pieces?" (Jer. 23:29). 
"Already ye are clean because of the word 
which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3). 
"The words I have spoken unto you are spirit 
and are life" (John 6:63). Hear David as he 
brushes the blanched locks from his noble 
brow: -'My heart standeth in awe at thy 
word." 

And in conclusion let me say, would 3^ou 
reach heaven? Let us return to primitive 
obedience. Christ is the way; let us enter by 
him and follow the guide-boards erected by 
his chosen heralds; then there can benoques- 
tion as to our finally reaching that haven of 
perpetual bliss; where, rocking gently at an- 
chor on thegolden sea of God's eternal love, we 
shall be beyond the reach of the storm and 
tempests of sorrow and grief; and in the blest 
light of his glorious presence we shall rejoice 



428 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

forever and ever. Our loved ones will be 
there. If our partinof was sad, oh how glad 
will be our meeting. On Wednesday, Decem- 
ber 29, 1897, I went to the Altoona cemetery 
to say good-bye again at the grave of my dar- 
ling Odessa. The trackless snow, pure and 
white, had drifted deep orer the mound. 
There I knelt in the deep snow and thanked 
God that he had given me the companionship 
of so noble a woman for a short time. My 
heart was sad, my bome was broken and 
there as my face was bathed in tears, I prom- 
ised God that I would try and be good and 
pure and would meet her in the heavenly land. 
I seemed to hear her sweet, familiar voice 
singino*, 

Oh, the joy that there awaits me, 

When I reach the golden shure, 
When I grasp the hands of loved ones, 
To part with them no more. 
My dear sinner, it is Christ that tells of 
that land. Why not come to Him to night? 
Heaven and earth intercede and your heart is 
moved. Do not put Him off longer. 
Go wing you flight from star to star. 
From world to shining world afar 

As the universe spreads her flaming walls; 
Count all the pleasures and all the spheres 
And multiply each by a thousand years, 
One moment in heaven is worth them all. 
How many are coming to Ctirist tonight? 
Shall we stand and sino-? 




A. E. Cory and Wife. 



A. E CORY. 

The subject of this sketch Abram E. Cory was 
born at Osceola, Iowa, August 13, 1873. He is the son 
of the beloved man of God, N. E. Cory and Margaret. 
He is remembered as an enthusiastic, ambitious grow- 
ing boy in Mt Pleasant, Iowa; Mommoutb, and Vir- 
ginia, Illinois; Marysville, Missouri; and Ottumwa, 
Iowa: These being the places of his father's ministry 
while Abram was growing to manhood. 

"While at Ottumwa, at the age of seventeen he was 
called to the worthy position of city editor of the 
Ottumwa Democrat, which position he held until he re- 
signed that he might attend school at Drake Univer- 
sity. After spending one year at Drake he went to 
Eur.eka College. Here he graduated in the classical 
course in June, 1894. Until a few months before his 
graduation his ambition was journalism, but at this 
time the grandeur of the gospel of Christ so wonder- 
fully impressed him that he determined to give his life 
in telling the wonderful message to others. True to 
his nature, having decided what to do, he was soon at it. 

In October, 1894, after spending a few months on 
the Pacific Coast, he began his ministry at Tingley, la. 
While here the membership was greatly increased and 
a new $6,000 building was dedicated to the Lord. He 
also served as Secretary of the Southwest District un- 
til his resignition from both positions to accejDt the 
work at Boone, Iowa, his present pastorate. The 
writer spent three months with the Boone church dur- 
ing Bro. Cory's pastorate there and must say that it is 
seldom indeed to see a pastor and church so unselfish- 
ly devoted to each other. Only able and ambitious 



432 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

management under the blessing of Goi could work such 
changes as have been in the work at Boone. During 
the four years of his ministry, over five hundred have 
been added to the churches under his preaching. In 
none other things has he shown better judgment than 
in the selection of a companion. September 30, 1895, 
he was married to Miss Bertha Adkins. To Mrs. Cory 
in no small way, is due the success which is crowning 
their efforts in the Lord. Truly their gift from God is 
little Martha Corey, their darling and joy. 

A. E. Cory is earnest to enthusiasm, true to the 
gospel of Christ in life and teaching, always ''speaking 
the truth in love" and can truthfully say, "I have 
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of 
God," A successful pastor, a worthy evangelist, a 
wise counselor, a true friend. 

His zeal for missions has no bounds. His young 
life has alreadv been offered for the foreign work. 
What greater thing can be said of anyone? In his labor 
the unexpected are very likely to come. At one time 
while preaching at Webster City to a large audience a 
young man came pressing through thecrowdand asked 
the preacher to take his confession. Brother Cory did 
so and then finished his sermon. 

Long may he live to tell the glad news of a Risen 
Redeemer and plead the cause of Bible Christianity. 
And having lived as he has so well begun when he is 
laid low in his ''windowless palace" it may be truth- 
fully written upon his tombstone, "^e hath done what he 
could.'' W. A. MooRE. 



THE MINISTER AND PUGILISTIC PREACHING 

Note — This discourse was prepared for and deliv- 
ered at the Convention at Onawa in May, 1898. T fur- 
nish it for this book by the request of a member wh© 
heard it when delivered. The subject was given me 
by the District Secretary of the Northwest District. C. 

Every minister is, or should be, a fighter. 
The commission that entitles a man to preach 
the Gospel also enlists him to engage in com- 
bat. Some men have conceived the nature of 
the fight in which they are to engage while 
others have certainly misconceive- d the kind 
of spiritual welfare that Christ and His apos- 
tles would have the minister of the gospel en- 
gage in. The fighters of to-day may be di- 
vided into two classes: those who fight in the 
prize ring, or the pugilist; and those of the 
army, or the soldiers who have forgotten self 
and selfish ambitions to champion principle 
and justice. Christianity is, and always has 
been, active and aggressive. The Christian 
minister who is performing his whole duty is 
energetic and is always moving forward. 

The Bible reveals to us men who were not 
idlers but doers. Paul likened this activity 
of the early Christians to the fight. To-day 
if we want to cling to the proud boast of being 
apostolic Christians we must be fighters. But 



434 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

what shall be the nature of that combat? 
Does the Testament reveal to us whether we 
are to be gladiators and pugilists, and fight in 
the ring of self glory, or volunteer to stand 
by the grandest principles that has ever been 
given to man, and to fight for them as soldiers 
on the battle-field of life? 

In mentioning this subject to a friend he 
said to me: *'That is all right: the pugalist 
is a strong man and we need strong men." I 
agree with him that strong men are needed in 
the Christian pulpits of the world to-day, but 
is it the strength of the pugilist? All will 
agree that he is an abnormally developed man. 
He is not an all-around man able to be all 
things to all men; but he is a giant in the 
prize ring and a slave and a weakling outside 
of it. When Paul described the Christian 
fighter — Eph. 6: — was it the abnormally de- 
veloped pugilist able io do service in one 
sphere only? or was it the all-around soldier 
that could win a victorious battle on any field 
and against any foe? I may not have rightly 
defined pugilistic preaching, but from my ob- 
servation of it I believe it is to be defined as I 
have outlined in the remainder of this paper. 

In the Churches of Christijthe world over 
we have standing in the pulpits, occupying 
the places as ministers and overseers, and 
also sitting in the pews as laymen, both the 
Christian pugilist and the Christian soldier. 
If I can I want to find which has a place in 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 435 

the ranks and among the officers of this great 
Christian body known as the Church of our 
Lord and Master. 

The pugilistic preacher is one that draws 
about him a certain class of people who ap- 
plaud his sayings to the echo but they hardly 
ever join him in battle and give to him the 
pledge of the supporter who is willing to die 
for a principle or to stand back of him armed 
with the sword of the spirit to fight both an 
aggressive and a defensive warfare. The 
pugilistic minister is generally a modern up- 
to-date fellow. He is not waging the old war- 
fare of a gospel of love, but in his mind there 
has come a new interpretation of the script- 
ures, and particularly Eph. 6. From his life 
I would imagine he would paraphrase the 
chaper with the following comments and im- 
provements: 

* 'Finally, my brethren, be strong in the 
Lord — ^yes that's all right; but a man must al- 
so have a well developed muscle to use afgainst 
any Methodist discipline or Westminister con- 
fession of faith on earth." ''Put on the whole 
armor of God that ye may be able to stand 
against the wiles of a deyilish sectarian." 
"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
against Catholicism, Methodism, Presbyter- 
ianism, Adventism, etc., etc., and against spir- 
itual wickedness in other churches and peo- 
ple." "Wherefore, take unto you the whole 
armor of God that ye may be able to stand in 



436 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

debate; and in making great displays against 
the denominations and having done all to 
stand." "Stand therefore having your loins 
girt about with a belt in which you carry a 
machete sharp enough to behead any sectar- 
ian preacher." "Have your chest so well de- 
veloped that you delight to have the blows of 
a pugilist fall upon it." "Modern tactics 
have changed so that the sandals of a gospel 
of peace are not enough, but have our foot- 
wear so heavily spiked that all sectarians 
would flee before us because of their fear of 
being stepped on." "Above all have a shield 
that will hold all the flaming attacks of sectar- 
ianism until you can extinguish them before a 
large audience." "Instead of the helmet of 
salvation — be hard- headed, have a nose long 
enough to smell an ism a long ways off, and 
ears large enough to catch the faintest mur- 
murings of heresy." "The sword of the Spir- 
it — Oh, no! — but have a boxing glove — hard, 
tight-fitting, that will blacken the eye of every 
Methodist in the country where you let your 
fist swing out." That, in part, is the pugilis- 
tic preacher — a man who sees one sin — Sec- 
tarianism. Those churches that want to be 
up-to-date, modern, and live on excitement — 
secure that kind of a preacher. 

I was requested to make the strong point 
in this article, the comparative advantages 
and disadvantages of that kind of preaching. 
I confess, I am not as familiar with that kind 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 437 

as some are, but from my knowledge of -it, the 
advantages are few. There is a way to preach 
the gospel of truth so that the world will see 
the errors of sin and sectarianism and repu- 
diate them — but what is that way? The pugilis- 
tic preacher tells me there is but one way and 
that way is to pound the gospel into people; if 
they have an ism in them, pound it out, and 
into that opening pound the pure and unadul- 
terated gospel such as Paul and the pugilistic 
preacher (in his estimation) alone can preach. 
Perhaps I am looking too lightly upon this 
style of preacing but I am sincere. I know 
he draws crowds, but they are the curious 
ones that like to see some one else ridiculed. 
They are successful in a measure, for in every 
church there are some short-winded people 
who cannot stand this terrific pounding and 
are compelled to surrender. Even the church- 
es of which we are pastors may have contain- 
ed some of that character that • have surren- 
dered to the tirade of some sectarian exhorter 
in the days that are gone, and are now mem- 
bers of sectarian churches. 

To the thinking members of the other 
churches, the pugilistic preacher can but dis- 
gust and harm. I dare make this statement 
and will gladly stand correction if I am mis- 
taken: that for every sectarian member con- 
verted by the pugilistic preacher that is of 
real value to the church, the preacher of love 
can show five that have been taught the gos- 



438 DOCTRJNE AND LIFE 

pel in a kind and simple manner and have ac- 
cepted it. If your child should come home 
from school and tell you that the teacher in a 
brutal manner (and that is the manner of the 
average pugilistic preacher) had made fun of 
all its belief, and, while he gave new truths, 
he left a sore heart because of the rough 
treatment — you would at once pronounce that 
teacher as not capable of teaching your boy or 
girl. The minister is a teacher and he should 
teach the pupils to love the gospel and to 
preach it to others in the same divine spirit. 
Instead of giving the gospel a place of respect 
in the minds of his hearers, this antagonistic 
preacher creates a prejudice in the commun- 
ity that it takes years of earnest effort to 
overcome. 

I have been told that Alexander Campbell 
belonged to this class. While he fought sec- 
tarianism and repudiated it, he always used 
the weapon of warfare that vvould kill rather 
than wound. The sword of the spirit isn't to 
pound with, but it is to reach the vital parts 
of error and sin and not leave any weakness 
or sore. Alexander Campbell was most ad- 
mired by those with whom he debated; for 
they recognized that he was a man of convic- 
tion, with a great mission, and that he wanted 
to help them. Do the people of the average 
community have that love for the pugilistic 
preacher of today? and is he a friend-maker? 

I 1. cannot imagine Alexander Campbell 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 439 

saying, as I heard a prominent preacher say 
that he wanted rather pound a Methodist than, 
a rattle snake. The same man told me that he 
had converted thousands by his preaching. I 
belive that; for I don't believe that if Jesus 
Christ was to come into the churches m which 
that man has held meetings, that he would 
claim very many that had enlisted under this 
well known pugilist. Sometimes the condi- 
tions are such that there is no use in giving 
the Methodists any more black eyesor pound- 
ing the babies of the Presbyterians — and our 
friend needs a subject. 

The gospel of love and d uty does not ap 
peal. He wants to pound some one, and chal- 
lenges the church members for a combat. 
They are human, and he soon finds a subject 
that needs reforming, and he attempsto effect 
this reformation. How different from Christ's 
method. Instead of reaching the heart of the 
man with the keen pointed, two edged sword 
of the Spirit, and with it bring about the 
change, he holds the man to ridicule and to 
scorn. My brief experience has taught me 
that the best way to win men, either in or out 
of the church, so that they may have the high- 
est respect for Christ and his Church is to 
wage this spiritual warfare in love. 

Don't understand me to uphold sectarian- 
ism in the least, and to contend that it should 
not be preached against; for it should be, but 
I contend that we must not mangle it but slay 



440 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

it with the sword of the Spirit. Sectarinism 
is a grevious sin but let us not seek to pound 
it to pieces but to kill it — take it to the bap- 
tismal pool aad burj^ it, and bring it forth in 
resurrection, having Jerusalem purity and 
simplicity. The same manner should be used 
in dealing with popular sins. Don't pound 
and mangle them for the sake of excitement, 
but slay, bury and raise again in the likeness 
of Christ. Hate sin brethren. Use God's 
weapon against it always, but let us never 
forget to love the sinners, and to remember 
that Christ died for them. 

If it is true that "As the pulpit is — so the 
pew," what churches and what church 
members will we have if the preachers are of 
the combative kind? The lesson the world 
needs today is not one of combat but of love. 
This ''greatest thing in the universe" should 
be the ruling principle of every life that is 
wearing the name of the Divine Son of God. 
The Christian looks to the pulpit for his in- 
struction and it certainly behoves churches, 
preachers and members to see to it that the 
cardinal principles of the preacher's life and 
sermons is but an echo of the Christ-life and 
spirit as it is preached to the world, under 
the divinesubject of love for all mankind. 

Ultimate failure certainly confronts the 
man who persists in following pugilistic 
preaching. The wise preachers and pastors 
have nothiDg to do with it. Why is it that 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 441 

the strong men of the Christian Brotherhood 
will not allow the pugilistic preacher to hold 
them a meeting? From their watch towers 
they have seen the failure that such preach- 
ing brings; the discord among the members; 
the half-hearted, man-made converts; the pre- 
judice against the church and a following that 
is not spiritual. What the church of Jesus 
Christ needs is the spirit and mind of the 
Master. Today when the pulse of the world 
is quickened by martial music we should re- 
member that we are warriors ; it is in our 
footsteps these are coming. The Christian 
soldier is the first that unfurled the banner 
on which was written ' 'Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy 
neighbor as thyself." Our warfare is al- 
ways for humanity; no matter what the cause, 
or the hour, let us remember the commission 
— Go — teach — make disciples, baptizing — 
teaching to observe all things. 

We should remember the requirements 
that are to establish the love for God and 
man everywhere as has been given in Eph. 6: 
The elements which enter into the spirit of 
true preaching is truth, righteousness, peace 
faith, salvation and the spirit in God's divine 
word. When we are equiped as Paul com- 
mands we will indeed be true soldiers and 
victorious. All Christian men who will arm 
themselves as the apostle dictates can win a 
battle that will be an honor to Christ's cause 



442 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

and will be complete. Dewy at Manilla won 
because back of him was the consciousness 
that he was right and could win. So it ought 
to be with the Christian. Let us not degrade 
the fight that we must wage. 

May the world know and realize that the 
minister of the gospel is fighting alone for 
principle and that principle is eternal and 
Divine. 

May God and His Son hasten the day 
when the spirit of pulpit and pew will be love 
for God and man, and that the theme of all 
life and mind will be the glory of the love- 
sacrifice that was given on the cross for the 
human race. 




\V, B. Ci.EM.MER, 



WILLIAM B CLEMMER. 



The German Baptists are the Puritans of Germany. 
Their religion is their life and history. It is upon them 
as a garment, and you see it when you see them. 

William B. Clemmer, the subject of this sketch, 
was born of German Baptist parents, in the State of 
Pensylvania, in the year 1866. And while he did not 
subscribe to the forms and externals of his parent's 
faith, the vital part of it, his deep piety and humble de- 
votion to the Lord, the "faith once for all delivered," 
he received with fullest heart-assurance, and in it he 
lives and rejoices. He says, "I am debtor to my par- 
ents for whatever piety I have; their spiritual mark is 
upon me." 

When a child he came with his parents to Illinois 
and spent the most of his life in Carroll county of that 
state. He received his early education at the Mt. Car- 
roll High School and took his diploma from that institu- 
tion when but sixteen years of age. He then entered 
his father's store and continued in the mercantile bus- 
iness until he entered the ministry. Speaking of this 
period his father once said to me, "Will was a man from 
the time he stepped into the store until he went out. 
He was not like other boys, and was always faithful to 
his duties and always reliable." When his life first 
touched mine he had been a Christian some three years, 
and as a business man he enjoyed the largest confidence 
of the public. The church knowing his integrity and 
uprightness of character pressed him forward in its 
work. He was soon made a deacon, then a superin- 
tendent of the Sunday School, and I've often said he 
was second to none I ever saw. Hebrew restive at the 



446 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

desk and behind the counter. An unseen hand was 
lifting him off his Galilee Lake, from the mere fisher- 
man's sordid life, and pointing to the great ocean of hu- 
manity's need where he was to become a fisherman of 
men. The divine impulsion within him was so strong 
that he felt, with Paul, "Woe is me if T preach not the 
gospel " So he left his fishing tackle and went out, un- 
der God, whither the hallowed dictations of conscience 
moved him. He took a course at Drake University to 
fit himself for his life work. He has not taken the full 
honors of the University but it is his desire and ambi- 
tion to do so. 

With him went a noble woman, a true helpmate 
whom God had placed by his side, who is a constant in- 
spiration in his work. Three little children cheer and 
brighten Bro. and Sister Clemmer's happy home. I 
feel that I know this brother well, and toknow him thus 
is to love him for his real worth. He is the soul of hon- 
or, incapable of an unmanly or dishonest thought or 
purpose. Behind him is the white flower of a blame- 
less life, before him the rich fruits of that life wholly 
consecrated to the Lord. 

He is now pastor of church at Sloan, Iowa, and has 
recently been appointed Superintendent of Sunday 
School and Christian Endeavor Work for the North- 
west District of that state. Being a born organizer, 
pleasing and affable in his bearing, possessing a quick 
insight into n en and things, and a rare faculty of man- 
aging all forces, his work, in whatever capacity, is cer- 
tain to tell for good, and his work up to the present is 
but the earnest of still greater things in the future. 

J. B. Wright. 



"THE SUNDAY SCHOOL A RELIGIOUS FACTOR." 

That the Sunday School as an instution is 
a religious factor, none will deny. Just what 
factor it is, how great its power, how promi- 
nent its place may be subject to wide dif- 
ference of opinion. Said Horace Bushell, ''It 
is the greatest work in the world, sometimes 
I think it is the only work. " — President Her- 
vey, of the Teacher's College, Newl^ork says, 
"To place such a mountain of responsibility (i. 
e. the religious instruction of the young) upon 
the shoulders of such a 'mouse' as the modern 
Sunday School is ridiculous." 

Which is correct? Are both extreme? 
What aij^e the facts? An investigation is mer- 
ited. Meigs, of Indiana says, "The Devil hates 
the work." This none will den 3^, neither will 
one who has either observation or experience 
deny the greatburdenplaced, in modern times, 
upon the church for the religious education 
of the young which has in turn, transferred 
its responsibility upon the Sunday School? 

As an instution it may be a 'mouse' but it 
is not an accident. It did not happen into 
existence. The idea is not new. Said God to 
Moses, concerning His Word. "Thou shalt 
teach them diligently unto thy children." 

Ezra stood up before all the people and 



448 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

"read in the Book of the Law of God distinctly" 
and the Levites "caused them to understand 
the reading." Jesus seeing the multitudes 
— when he was set— "opened His mouth and 
taught them." Again the Lord commandeth 
the Apostles "Go ye therefore disciple all na- 
tions,— teaching them to observe all things." 
And Paul to Timothy, "The things (gospel) 
which thou hast heard from me— the same 
commit thou to faithiul men, who shall be able 
to teach others. " Here is the Sunday School 
idea biblically. Scripture piled on Scripture; 
line upon line; precept upon precept. 

"The Apostolic church," says Baron Bun- 
son, Made the school the connecting link be- 
tween herself and the world. " Said Luther, 
"For the church's sake Christian schools must 
be established and maintained— God maintains 
the church through the schools." Upon this 
idea he acted as did also Calvin, Zwingli, 
Knox, Cranmer, Usher, and others. Indeed 
so vital is the applicationofthis principle, that 
the decadence of the Sunday School idea mar- 
ked the loss of spiritual power of the church. 
Certainly the church school is a necessity of 
written revelation, while the modern Sunday 
School is merely the application of biblical in- 
junction to modern needs by modern methods. 

The church saves souls. What is its ul 
timate end? "The edifying of the body of 
Christ." Does the Sunday School meet this 
need? Is this the best we can do with time 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 449 

talents and treasures!" Is it a vitaliostitutioh? 

That the Sunday School is vital, tnat it is 
worthy the place assigned, that it is what is 
claimed for it in this article, we deduct prin- 
ciples, state results. Facts tells! Facts are 
the trade mark of God, and history written 
and unwritten tell amaizingly the divinity 
and potenc}' of the Sunday School as a relig- 
ious factor. 

As an evangelizing factor it seems hardly 
necessary to argue. Its constituent elements 
make it such. (1) The foundation of all evangel- 
ism is the incarnate word — the one Book. ''So 
belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the 
word God," and, '' Whose ver belie veth that 
Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God. " 

The Alpha and Omega of the Book is 
Jesus, the Christ, theSon of God. The world's 
need is the world's Savior. The book reveals 
Him. The panaceae for the word's ills is the 
gospel of the kingdom. 

(2) Not only is the Bible supreme in the 
Sunday School, but here it is brought face to 
face with life in its formative stage. "From a 
babe thou has known the sacred writings which 
are aV le to make thee wise unto salvation. ' ' The 
Sunday School has to do with the child, 
not with the child only, however: For the 
Sunday School is not the ^nursery' of the 
church, the home is that; neither is the school 
the supplanter of the home in the religious 
instruction of the child; what the home fails 



450 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

to do for the child is, largely loss; nor is the 
Sunday School "the children's church," the 
church is the children's church and the school 
is the church's school. 

Nevertheless, the Sunday School has to 
do, principally, with the child. Herein, its 
chief glory. 

The child is the key to the future. Mai- 
modies beautifully expressed it, saying; "The 
world exists by the breath of children." What 
better then may be done for 'the world' than 
to bring the children unto "the perfect law of 
liberty," in impressionable years, "wax to 
receive, marble to retain." 

A child may be so impressed becoming a 
demon or a saint. Lord Shaftesbury gives as 
a result of his study: "All crime begins be- 
tween eight and sixteen years of age, and at 
twenty the chances for continuing to do so are 
as forty-nine to one." On the other hand the 
church of all ages has been enriched by a Sam- 
uel, brought up in the House of God ; a Poly- 
carp converted at nine; a Matthew Henry at 
eleven; an Isaac Watts at nine; a Robert Mof- 
fett at twelve. Place the Bible in the hands 
of the child, teach it truth, in after years it 
needs no defense — it is its own defender. 
Said Dr. Geo. C. Lorimer, addressing the 
eighth international Sunda}^ School conven- 
tion at Boston, "I was born an Episcopalian, 
bred an Episcopalian, but drifted, with some 
companions into a Baptist Sunday School. I 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 451 

believe my whole life was determined by that 
Sunday School. I was taught, I studied, I 
memorized, I repeated, I -won a prize on the 
Psalms of David; and all the critics in the 
world, somehow, cannot convince me that 
David did not write the Psalms." So it will 
evermore be with ?uch, nor higher criticism, 
nor scholastic reviews, nor science, falsely so- 
called; "nor height nor depth, nor any other 
creature will be able to separate" from the 
fact that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of 
God. 

(3) Nor is this all, the Sunday School is 
the only spiritual mother some children have. 
What is the menace to the church, to the 
state, to the future of your children — and 
mine? The child of ir religion. Whence shall 
come its religious trainingand nurture? From 
the home? No, the home is unclean, and the 
name of God is heard only in blasphemy. 
From the public school? In part, yet its 
hands a.re manacled; it has to do more with 
brains than with heart, often furnishing a 
sharpened instrument for vicious uses. From 
the pulpit? Perhaps, yet the pulpit is a pedes- 
tal whose arms do not reach out to these chil- 
dren of sin. Whence then? Is there a way? 
Behold at the threshold of need stands the 
Sunday School with its index finger pointing 
to Him saying, "I am the way." It not only 
houses itself teaching the word to those who 
come, but sends the warm-hearted worker — a 



452 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

living Christ — 'Agoing about doing good" — in- 
to the high-ways of indifference and into the 
hedges of sin; to seek and to save the lost, to 
constrain them to come into the fold, that all 
may be taught of God, from the least unto the 
greatest. Indeed the Sunday-school, with its 
systematic house-to-house visitation, is but 
^apostolos' of the nineteenth century going by 
twos into fields white to harvest, with the in- 
vitation to school and to church. By tbis 
means, in one year in Towa alone, over 150,000 
families were visited and 200 new schools 
were organized, while in three years the net 
gain in schools was over 1,300. Compute, if 
you can, this as an evangelizing force — a 
means of reaching the masses of irreligion. 

Nay more, the Sunday School through its 
*'Home Class" department, bids fair to over- 
come another foe to the Kingdom of Righteous- 
nesSc It sends the living word, in the hands 
of the living teacher, into the homes of the in- 
different and hindered, into the homes of the 
aged and infirm, into the homes of the sick 
and distressed, yea, into the homes of poverty 
and of sin teaching the word, — ''as minister- 
ing angels sent forth to minister for them 
who shall be heirs unto salvation. "—Is not 
this apostolic in word and in deed? For in 
every house they ceased not to teach Jesus 
the Christ. Is not this the very solution of 
the unchurched masses? The very method 
of Jesus and of Paul? For toreach people 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 453 

go where they are — into the assembly, the 
forum, the home-- -"Go ye therefore." 

Said a teacher who led from the street 
two little girls into the Sunday School, "One 
of the first things they asked me, was for a 
prayer to say at night and I gave them a sim- 
ple prayer. The next thing was the Lord's 
prayer for the morning. Then one of the 
little ones came and said, 'Mother wants a 
prayer to say when we eat.' I wrote out one 
and sent it to the family. About a month 
after, I called on them — a little three year old 
asked 'the blessing' at the table — she always 
did. In the mean time (that was only three 
months ago) two of these children have joined 
the church, and the father and mother are 
about to join." Surely the children are wait- 
ing to be found and their fathers and mothers 
shall they lead "captives into captivity." 

Moreover, the Sunday school is the 
agency through which pioneer religious work 
is done in new communities. Let one illus- 
tration suffice: Wm. Reynolds, field worker 
of the International S. S. association said, 
"In Illinois there was a town of 1200 people, 
for more than forty years a county seat, but 
never had a church or Sunday school within 
its bounds. I never saw so many saloons for 
so small a place. The jail was f ulJ and pris- 
oners were chained on the outside. We hun- 
ted over that town for some live christians; 
found three. We called them together, organ- 



454 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

ized a county Sunday school association, and 
set them at once to work to organize a Sun- 
day school. They did so. Seven years later 
on coming into the town, I counted five church 
steeples, but not one saloon in the place and 
not one person in the jail. I asked "Why this 
marvelous change"? They said, "due lo the 
establishment of that Sunday school seven 
years ago." Herein is the modern Sunday 
school applying Holy scripture in scriptural 
methods, to Holy purposes, meeting present 
needs, overthrowing vicious systems, and ful- 
filling the last will and testament of the Mas- 
ter. 

11. The Sunday school is also a great 
factor in missions and is becoming so increas- 
ingly. The strategic point for all missionary 
effort is the 'One Book.' The base — the word 
of God. It is missionary from cover to cover. 
The very purpose of the Book is the reconcil- 
iation of aZZ-men to an all- God by an all- 
Redeemer. In plan, promise and prophecy 
is this luminously set forth, and emphasized 
by commandment. Bring the heart of the 
Bible to the heart of the child, and there 
dawns the golden era of missionary effort: for 
the child is the alpha of missions in human 
endeavor. The child-heart is nearer God. 
"Who made you?" "God," replied the six 
year old. "No wonder he knows," said the 
man who failed to answer this simple ques- 
tion, "he has not been made long enough to 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 455 

forget." Even so. Not far enough away 
from God to doubt the application of God's 
truth to himself. Not lived so long in indif- 
ference and prejudice as to become case- 
hardened; not used so long to ^'my will,' that 
to fully accept ' 'Thy will" becomes the most 
difficult obedience; not having eyes so long 
fixed, and desire so intently set on things 
temporal, that things eternal become hazy 
and inattractive. 

No wonder, that in the heart of the child 
was the answer to prayer for heathen mis- 
sions. The treasure box opened; the store of 
savings and sacrifice of many days brought 
forth, consecrated to God, with the prayer, 
''We want this to go to the children who know 
nothing about Jesus." And so,ourChi]dren's 
Day was born, and the beginning of the 
Brotherhood's labors in heathen lands. Are 
you surprised that in one year the Sunday 
Schools of Ohio gave more to Foreign Mis- 
sions that the churches of Ohio? Do you won- 
der that annually our Sunday Schools give one- 
third the entire offerings for Foreign Mis- 
sions; and more do not give simply because 
they are not asked. — A case of unbelief on the 
part of their elders? 

Ill This leads me to the Vital issue, 
stated briefly ; if in the child of today is the 
church of tomorrow, then the Sunday School, 
as the great academy for teachino- the youth 
is the recruiting ground of the church. True 



456 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

it is not the only one. I acknowledge the 
potency of the home, the Christian Endeavor 
and kindred institutions. But to me the Sun- 
day School in plan and promise Is the very 
"Saul" of the institutions of the church; it 
standsfat the threshold of the future. It has 
in it that host of young people, largely from 
whom shall come the ministers of righteous- 
ness, the missionaries of the cross, the elders 
of the church, the teachers of the word, the 
trainers of youth. In a word, in the Sunday 
School largely is the unborn church of future, 
— its genius, its talents, ifcss potency, its tri- 
triumph. The best assurance of a chnrch 
triumphant is a church wisely militant in 
developing its richest treasures- -the children. 
IV The last query— How may the San- 
day School become the potent factor it ought 
to be— Nay must be— in our plea for the Gos- 
pel? The church as a body must realize the 
importance of its place and magnitude of its 
Pmoer; that it is neither the pastime of the 
church nor the occupation of a few, but the 
serious business of the church; that it is not 
a department of the church but the whole 
church with its most wisely directed conse- 
crated ability teaching and studying the word 
of God for the purpose, primarily of leading 
souls to confess and obey Christ; not in some 
other service^ or at some other time, but as a 
necessary immediate outcome of this service, 
and a part of it; and secondarily, for the edi- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 457 

fication of the saints in Christ. 

It must be made not a Sunday School; but 
a church-school; not a one- day- school and one- 
hour-of-the-day, but a school whose vital ener- 
gies shall extend throughout the week in var- 
ious activities and expressions, never ceasing 
contact with the living membership. The 
Normal Class, the Home Class, the Teacher's 
Meeting, the Visitation, the Social Jubilee, 
the Good Literature, the Reading Room, the 
Gymnasium — these, and many more as circum- 
stance allows — are the activities of the mod- 
ern church (Sunday) School. 

There is imperitive need for a Sunday 
School conscience. We have calls for a mis- 
sionary conscience. Haggard pleads for an 
I. C. C. conscience. Others extol the need 
for an educational conscience; but back of all 
these, the cause of all these, the effectual pow- 
er of all these, is the Bible in the hands of a 
little child. What power will there be if the 
children grow up studying the Word of God: 
Yet, eleven million children in America are 
outside the Sunday Schools, while six in every 
ten of our own brotherhood are unenlisted in 
this Holy and Patriotic work. O church of 
Christ, look up, behold the need! Awake, 
awake put on thy strength! arise, the work 
begin! ^ * * i want to hear of a ''day" 
which the church shall set apart for the con- 
sideration of its relation to the school, and to 
provide for its needs. Among them, — a Bible 



458 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

in the hands of every scholar. If the Bible 
is its text book, if the school is its throne, 
^lace it there; the property of the church, sup- 
plied by the church, used in the church. 
Trained teachers suppling a graded-school 
system, with lesson adapted to the mind, the 
teacher qualified for the teaching. 

Good Mr. Emerson said, "I am not so par- 
ticular lohat is taught my boy as ^^Ao the teach- 
er is; and remember that, what you are sounds 
so loudly in my ears, I can not hear what yeu 
say." Of Garfield it was said, "As a young 
school teacher he was wont to lie awake nights 
tracing out upon his sheet in the dark the 
plan of the school room and the location of 
each scholar's desk, and planning for each 
one's growth as he did so." This is that 
which ''tells for ages, tells for God." Said 
John Wanamaker, *'With more than two-score 
years of intimate knowledge of the re- 
sults of such work, I must say that I do 
not know of any other channel in which a man 
can do as much good with his time, strength, 
or money, as in the training of young people 
though well appointed and well administered 
Sunday Schools and Bible classes." A great- 
er hath said — ' ' They that be teachers shall 
shine as the brightness of the firmament and 
they that lead many to righteousness shall 
shine as the stars forever and ever." 




James Small. 



JAMES SMALL 



The subject of this sketch was born on the 21st 
of December, 1859 at Seafin, Down county, Ireland. 
Most of what he knows about the plea of the Disci- 
ples he learned first from M. D. Todd, though he was 
baptized by W. T. Moore, in Liverpool, England. The 
last Sunday evening in September, 1881, Bro. Moore 
left for London. The next morning after he baptized, 
Joseph, Matthew and James, three brothers. The 
pulpit of the Liverpool church was soon occupied by 
Mr. Todd, who was a friend and a '*rock in a weary 
land," to every young man to whom he happened to 
have in his congregation. Bro. Small came to this 
country in 1887. He began his work in Indiana, and 
for six years, he labored in that state as evangelist, 
making about 3,000 additions in that time. Some of his 
meetings have reached the 200 mark, and one at Mart- 
insville, Indiana, reached nearly 400. His pastorate of 
three years in East Des Moines was a signal success. 
His late sojourn- in California was pleasant to himself, 
and profitable to the churches, and God's cause gener- 
ally; the cause of Christ has no more consecrated work- 
er than Bro. Small. D, F. Witter. 

Des Moines, November 1. 



THE UNREASONABLNESS OF INFIDELITY- 

BY JAMES SMALL. 

'•They hated me without a cause." — John 15:25. 

If a writer hating the United States and 
its people should undertake to expound our 
institutions or to describe the virtue and 
intelligence of our people would he have any 
fitness for such a work? The principle is 
true everywhere. The testimony of a pre- 
judiced witness is not to be heard, as the tes- 
timony of a disinterested one. There may be 
some truth in what the prejudiced one says, 
nevertheless he is disqualified as a witness. 
Such is the position of all who have not tried 
Christianity or "tasted the good word of 
God." Unbelievers in Christ's day hated 
Him and His cause, and were unreasonable in 
their demands, notions and criticisms, and it 
is our purpose this evening to show that the 
same unreasonableness obtains among unbe- 
lievers today. 

I. Infidelity is unreasonahle in its notion 
of God. They hate and ignore Him with- 
out a reason. Infidels are Spiritual Anar- 
chists. Men hate God too because they 
are not acquainted with Him. I have seen a 
little boy scared at a lamb frisking around 
him, but when that boy got acquainted with 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 463 

the innocent creature he loved it as he 
almost did his life. 

A Convention of French socialists meet- 
ing in Paris, first agreed on this: "Resolved 
that the first thing necessary is to get rid of 
the idea of God." The work of unbelievers 
it would seem is to help the socialists carry 
out their resolution. An unbeliever of this 
country who, by an enviable command of 
words, has put better clothes on Infidelity 
than any man of his tribe, says: "I worship 
no God, I believe in law, the Almighty Maker 
of Heaven and earth." But is law almighty? 
Has law a heart? Has it any pity? What has 
law ever done that we should worship it? 
Has it ever suffered or sorrowed? If it has 
not how can it meet my deepest needs and 
show me the way back to God? On the other 
hand Christians believe that God is, for the 
reason that something is: There is some- 
thing,^ in this universe. Whence came matter? 
Can a dead thing create its dead self? Science 
and the Bible agree "that out of nothing, 
nothing comes." Evolution will not explain 
the first grain of sand. It has been shown 
over and over again that before there can be 
any evolution there must be involution. 
When Moses smote Aaron with burning words 
for helping the people back into Egyptian cow 
worship, God all the while working wonders 
in heaven and earth to pull them out of it, 
Aaron muttered this reply: "The people 



464 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

brought their gold, I cast it into the fire, and 
there came out this calf,'''' It was a poor ex- 
cuse for his sin, but his words form a good 
argument against evolution. It is a proof 
that you cannot bring more out of anything 
than you put into it. 

Christians believe that God is: for the 
reason that life is, and motion, and plan, and 
conscience, and free will, and consciousness 
exist. Suppose you could account for matter, 
how about life? Has matter omnipotent pow- 
er? Can life in a dead thing create itself? 
This world, scientists teach, was once m a 
chaotic state; if that is so, how could life com- 
mence without a creator? What called forth 
those energies to create? Has matter con- 
trolling power or is it controlled? Can a dead 
thing move its dead self? Account if you can, 
without God, for the first air- wave in the 
eternal calm? Whence came plan and thought? 
What is a flower, but life and thought in 
materia] form? But there is no thought with- 
out a thinker; there is no love without a lover; 
nor law without a law giver; nor design with- 
out a designer ; nor motion without a mover ; 
nor web, without a weaver. If there is 
thought, there is certainly a thinker: for 
thought implies a thinker; love implies a 
lover; law implies a lawgiver; design implies 
a designer; motion implies a mover; and a web 
implies a weaver. And it is impossible to 
think of love, and thought, and pity apart 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 465 

fr^m personality; so that the man who does 
not believe in a personal God does not believe 
in any God at all. When I first learned to 
ride a bicycle on coming down the mountain 
from Joquin Miller's home in California my 
wheel *'ran away" from me and my prayer 
for safety was not to blind force or law or un- 
known power, but to the living God. 80 it 
will ever be. Men in time of trouble will look 
to a Father in heaven who feels for us, who is 
an ever present help in every time of trouble. 
Back of the thought is the thinker; back of 
the love is the lover; back of the law is the 
lawgiver; back of the design is the designer; 
back of the motion is the mover; and back of 
the web is the weaver. And bacR of thought, 
and love, and law, and design, and motion, 
and web is the Almighty ; yes back of hill and 
valley, lake and river, forest and meadow, 
bird and flower, mountain and tree is the 
Most High God. This is the faith of Moses 
when he said: "In the beginning, God." 
And the broad-browed, brainy scholars of 
this age say that Moses holds the field yet 
against all "top-loftical" philosophers. This 
is a world of thought, and order, and life, and 
beauty, and implies a Maker. It is a rational 
world and it takes the God that the Bible 
reveals to explain it. 

Whence again came conscience? Can 
dead matter create a sense of right and 
wrong? How came consciousness into our 



466 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

hearts? Can mere matter create a sense of 
its own consciousness? My reason compels 
me to believe in a living, personal God, and 
let those believe it who can that man will ever 
get away from this fundamental idea. 

There is a story told about Abraham, it 
was in the first days of his faith in God. The 
gratitude of his heart led him to worship; but 
what should be the object of his devotion? 
One evening a star came out and he said, "Oh 
this shall be my God." But as the star 
silently as a shadow, and softly as the view- 
less air, faded from his sight, he exclaimed, 
*'I shall worship no God that fades." Soon the 
moon with her silvery light appeared and he 
said, "Oh this shall be my God." As the 
moon vanished, he said again, "I shall wor- 
ship no God that vanishes." Soon the bright 
orb of the morning arose. Abraham ex- 
claimed, "Oh this shall be my God." But, 
as he saw the sun setting, faith again went 
from his heart, and he cried, "I shall worship 
no God that sets.'' But with joy at last, 
Abraham exclaimed, "Oh I shall worship Him 
who made the stars, and moon and sun." 
And blessed is the man who has still his child- 
hood's faith in Abraham's God. 

IT. In its notion of a personal Savioi\ infi- 
delity is unreasonable. Unbelievers say, that 
man never fell down, that he fell up and does 
not therefore need a Saviour. "I will never 
accept," said an unbeliever, "a religion that 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 467 

comes upon the suffering of others." He ac- 
cepts a country on that ground why not a re- 
ligion? He accepts a home on that basis and 
why not the gospel? The everlasting gospel 
of suffering and sacrifice is seen in nature as 
well as m grace. Birds, and fish, and beasts 
suffer, that man may life. The best things 
of this life, come to us through suffering. 
The books that live, and that move this world, 
are heart books. Truths that live, are truths 
that are suffered out. Books, and truths, and 
pictures, that live, are born, and written, and 
painted, in our Gethesemanes, and "the an- 
guish of the singer, makes the sweetness of 
the song." Singers that move the heart and 
move the depths, are singers that are. rich in 
soul, and who have been purified by suffering. 
And not until we go through the furnace, and 
have our faith tested in the crucible, can we 
reach our brother, and save him. Not until 
your heart is moved and thrilled, by the story 
of the cross can you go forward into the 
world carying blessing, and cheer, and life. 
Nobody is richer, until somebody is poorer' 
Even the bright King of day is a sufferer. 
Astronomers tell us that the sun ripens our 
harvest by burning itself up; each golden 
sheaf, each orange bough, each tree of ripe 
fruit, each beatiful, flower costs the sun 
thousands of tons of carbon. In California, 
the valleys grow rich and deep, with soil 
which leaves the mountians bare and denudes 



468 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

them of their treasures. And as one looks 
down upon the valleys of that golden state, 
gilded with grain and fragrant with hay, 
where the flowers wave and toss in the sum- 
mer breeze, he cannot but see and feel that 
all this beauty, like the beauty of our religion, 
was bought at a great price. 

III. In Us notion of the faith ^ Infidelity is 
unreasonable. "Faith," says Spencer, "is the 
ability to believe the incredible." And an- 
other skeptic has said, "Faith is the child of 
ignorance, and an intellectual fallacy." But 
who can not see but that they attribute a 
vague, and mysterious meaning to faith, which 
is wholly unjustifiable. Perhaps the religious 
world is responsible for this : for there are many, 
very many, who are far from being unbeliev- 
ers, are looking, for the extraordinary. They 
are not satisfied with the plain, sober, sweet, 
and practical religion of our Lord; they are 
hunting after mystery and mysterious things. 
So the unbeliever has got the notion that re- 
ligion is a vague, mysterious, something, that 
presents nothing tangible to our reliance and 
acceptance. He imagines that, "faith is the 
ability to believe the incredible." There is 
nothing more common "in the life that now is" 
than faith. 

1 The home is saved by it. Take faith 
out of the home; and you have hell. Unbe- 
lief would break to pieces the happiest home 
in Des Moines to-night. On the yery same 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 469 

principle on which the home^ and society^ and 
commerce are saved, God proposes to save your 
soul and mine. Is that unreasonable? What 
brought you together as lovers, and as wives 
and husbands was it unbelief? was it not rath- 
er faith, trust, and love? And if your home 
has been happy in the past, it has been by the 
development of these principles. 

2 Society is saved by faith. If you are 
invited to a home for dinner, you must sit 
down at the table as a believer, and not as an 
unbeliever. You can not and must not say to 
your hostess, '*Are you sure, that you have 
not poisoned this meat, " or, "Have you been 
careful that no arsenic has reached this 
bread?" The sweetest f rienships of life come 
to us by faith. 

3 The government is saved by it, and it 
is the basis of the commercial world. Take 
faith out of the government, and you have 
anarchy; take it out of the commercial world, 
and you have a panic. It is the bond of fel- 
lowship between the soul and God. In the 
light of these facts it seems to one that it was 
as necessary that it should be said, "He that 
believeth not shall be damned," as it is to say, 
':the water flows;" because without faith there 
is no friendship, no conversion, no regeneration, 
and no peace. Every sin is the product of 
unbelief; on the other hand, if we have been 
brought into fellowship with God, if the love 
of sin has been eliminated from our souls, and 



470 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

the tree of life burdened with fruit, it is the 
result of faith. Nor will it do to say that faith 
and science conflict: for before it can be shown 
what they conflict, it must first be shown that 
they are — what is faith and what is science? 
Paul says, "Faith is the confidence of things 
hoped for the conviction of things not seen" 
(Robinson's translation). Mark the words — 
"The conviction of things not seeny Faith 
deals with the unseen — the things that lie out 
beyond the shadows, and beyond human dis- 
covery; while science is "human knowledge 
classified, and deals with the seen.-' Science 
does not deal with the things of faith at alL 
Hence there is a distinction between faith and 
science, that unbeleivers do not make. Ask 
the scientist what is beyond this world? and 
what is his answer? Ask him is there a light 
for weary feet, beyond death? and he can tell 
you as little about it, as scientists could, 
three thousand years ago; and did you ever 
stop to think that science, without the Bible, 
has never led the race beyond idolatry? On 
the great ocean of truth there is room for the 
good ship of science that comes over tbe high 
seas, freighted with a thousand blessings for 
man ; and for the good ship of faith that 
comes from the divine haven, laden with 
Heaven's bread for weary and hungry souls. 

Faith in Christ is a sublime thing, and is 
the very highest act of reason. Five years 
ago, coming into New York harbor, our ship 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 471 

that had been almost waterlogged for five 
days, sighted the pilot and his little craft. It 
was not long until he was on board, and had 
reached the captain as he stood on the bridge. 
After shaking hands, and a very short con- 
versation, the captain retired to his cabin, 
leaving the pilot in charge ; and let me say, 
nobody on board that ship said: "Faith in 
that pilot was an intellectual fallacy," and, 
* 'the ability to believe the incredible." Nay- 
it was the highest act of navigation to hand 
over the ship and a thousand souls to the pilot, 
who knew more of the reefs, and shoals, the 
currents and counter currents, the channel 
and buoys of the harbor than the captain 
knew. So of our faith : without light and 
hope; chart gone; and waterlogged; no har- 
bor in sight; without even knowing in what 
direction, the quiet haven is, is it not the 
highest act of reason, to commit our souls to 
the Great Pilot of our salvation? 

IV. In its demands infidelUy is unresona- 
able. It first demands: "That God shall 
reveal Himself to its understanding and com- 
prehension" before it believes, forgetting, 
apparently, that a God that one can compre- 
hend, one can make. "Who by searching can 
find out God?" "He who holds the sun in the 
hollow of His hand, who takes up the isles as 
a very little thing, and counts the nations as 
the dust in the balance," can not be framed 
with man's mind. The frame of a picture 



472 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

must always be larger than the picture; and a 
life size picture of God is too lar^e for the 
human mind to frame. "He that cometh to 
God must believe that He is, (not comprehend 
Him, or prove that He is,) and that He is a 
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." 
Trust is soul-knowledge. 

Infidelity demands that we substitute a 
tadpole for God; Voltaire for Christ; the "age 
of reason" and vain philosophy for the Bible; 
free love for the sweet bond of marriage; and 
the grave for immortal joys. Oh cruel, heart- 
less unbelief that sends us to the desert for 
bread, and to the stagnant pond for water; 
that pushes us into dark, and hopeless graves; 
puts out the lamp of faith and snatches away 
the evergreen that blooms on the grave of a 
sainted mother ! Skepticism never won a vic- 
tory, never slew a sin, never closed a saloon, 
never healed a heartache, never produced a 
ray of sunshine, and never saved a soul. It 
is destructive and not constructive. Anybody 
can cut down, with an old rusty sword, all the 
beautiful flowers in a garden, but it takes a 
Divine being to construct and reproduce them 
again. 

When infidels invite me to leave the para- 
dise of Christianity and camp out on the bar- 
ren waste of unbelief, as long as I have a 
grain of sense as big as a mustard seed, I 
will decline the inyitation. 

V. Infidelity is unreasonable in its criti- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 473 

cisms. Here is one that we have all heard: 
*'The world has outgrown Christianity; we 
want a new religion for these days." As well 
might we say that the world has outgrown 
life, or love, or light, or rest. Life is old, 
love is old, light is old and rest is old. There 
is nothing new about rest ; yet one retires to 
rest each night as if it were the first rest ever 
enjoyed. There is nothing new about light, 
yet when we saw the old "King of day" steal 
up this morning behind the eastern hills it 
seemed like we had never seen his light 
before. There is nothing new about love; but 
see it enters the heart of youth and maiden 
for the first time, and they will think that love 
like theirs never dwelt in any heart; ji^st such 
love beat in the hearts of Adam and Eve 
when they walked hand in hand in the garden 
of Eden. So of truth; all truth is old. "There 
is not an item of Christian truth in the world 
to-day that is not 1800 years old." And the 
oftener it is handled, the brighter it shines. 
But again, if the world is outgrowing Chris- 
tianity, into what will we grow if we outgrow 
it? Man is a religious being, and all the 
teaching that infidels have given the world 
has never untaught the idea that "as the 
heart panteth for the water-brooks, so man 
thirsts for God." So great is the smallest 
man that nothing else, or other than God, can 
satisfy him. Everything else is less than 
adequate to meet our needs. Into what, I ask. 



474 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

will we grow ? Is there anything beyond the 
Fatherhood of Grod and the brotherhood of 
man? You cannot think of anything beyond 
God or heaven. Is there anything beyond 
Christ's love and sympathy? Who ever ex- 
tended mercy to the lost and ruined as he did ? 
Who but the Saviour can give liberty to the 
captives and bring peace to the soul? Whose 
hand is so tender to soothe the trusting in 
death as the hand of the Saviour that Paul 
preached? Well might Renan say, ''If even 
the stars are inhabited, they have no religion 
beyond the religion of Jesus." 

"So tender, so precious, my Saviour to me; 

So dear and so gracious I've found Him to be, 

How can I but love Him? but love Him? 

There's no friend above Him, poor sinner, for thee." 

VI. Infidelity^ last of all^ is unreasonable 
in its conception of a future life, "No one,'^ 
it is said ''knows enough to know, that man 
will survive the grave, or that there is a future 
life." But what is more welcome than Spring? 
and what more reasonable? What more wel- 
come than "the Summer land of bliss?" what 
so fully meets the wants, yea the demands of 
the nature with which we are made? By the 
universal hope and expectation, by the frag- 
mentory character of this life, by the long- 
ings of our nature that this world can not 
satisfy, by the intuitions oi justice, by the 
soul-attractions which beckon us onward and 
upward, one can successfully hold his own 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 475 

against the unbeliever. Science and philos- 
ophy lead us to the probability of immortality, 
and, with such interests at stake well, and 
strong, and beautifully has the poet written: 

Oh, thou that reverest a Master above, 

And sighest for glories immortal and high — 
Be strong in believing and steadfast in love, 

When passion is loud and the tempter is nigh! 
When infidels bid thee be false to thy Lord — 

When they laugh at the faith that ennobles and sa\ es 
When they scoff at his people, and rail at his word. 

Be thou to their wildness that rock in the storm. 

Aye! stand like that sea-cliff! nor ask thou to shun 

The word of obedience, the care or the cost: 
There are treasures of infinite price to be won, 

There are treasurers of infinite price to be lost. 
With the wiles of the temper, his vengeance or mirth, 

Strive thou as the bold and the faithful have striven, 
And the sorrows and toils of thy warfare on earth 

Shall be paid in the peace and the rapture of heaven. 

Travel on then, brother, and do not get 
faint-hearted or low spirited. "We are far 
from home, but God is with us." The great 
hope of the Book is not the dream of a 
dreamer, for the things it promises are com- 
ing. When the journey is over, half of the 
pleasure is in looking back over it. We forget 
usually the hard places, and remember only 
the pleasant side. When you get a barn- 
door fowl, it comes out of the shell and there 
is not much more to hope for ; but when you 
get a young eagle, it is like a lump of stained 
jel]y, and there it is for days, and weeks, and 



476 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

months, a wretched, forlorn thing, in a nest of 
rough twigs, but it beats the chicken before 
it has done. Soon it will take possession of 
the sun and crag and sea. 

We are only worms to-day, but we shall 
yet flit from flower to flower, in that land 
where the flowers will bloom forever, and the 
good never die. We are only young eagles 
now, tossed by the winds of heaven, but we 
are conscious that something great stirs with- 
in us; and, in a little while, we shall take pos- 
session of our everlasting dwelling. And 
when we get home, redeemed man will be the 
pride of the skies. What a wonderful passage 
that is in the revelation to John, where the 
elder says, "Who are these which are arrayed 
in white robes? and whence came they?" And 
I said unto him, "Sir, thou kno west." And 
he said unto me, "These are they that have 
come out of great tribulations, and have 
washed their robes and made them white in 
the blood of the lamb." Why did not the 
elder show John the Seraphim? And why did 
he not point out the Archangel? The fact is, 
man is nearest God in that land, and is the 
pride of heaven. Unbelieving and uncon- 
verted friend, think on these things ; and may 
you be persuaded to acknowledge Him, who 
has made your heirship to the universe and 
flashing worlds possible. 




H. O. Breeden. 



R O, BREEDEN. 

Thirteen years ago there was one Church of Christ 
in this city with 350 members. Now we have ten 
churches with a combined membership of about 4000. 
Harvey O. Breeden has been here during these years 
an incessant worker, exerting his strong influence to 
bring about this glorious result. In a few days he 
will enter upon his fourteenth year as Pastor of the 
Central Church of Christ. 

He was born in Mason county. Illinois, April 18, 
1857. At fifteen years of age he entered Abingdon 
College. The writer first met him at the time he ma- 
triculated and was impressed with the fact that there 
was a drawing power exerted over him in two direct- 
ions — there was the strong love of his father and 
mother, Dr. J. H. Breeden and wife, drawing in the 
direction of home, and the intense desire to obtain a 
college education, drawing and holding him as a stud- 
ent. Letters of wisdom from his parents and kindness 
of the part of the professors and fellow students helped 
him to keep his good resolution; he continued in Ab- 
ingdon College two years and completed his course in 
Eureka College at the age of twenty-one receiving the 
degree of A. B. He has received the A. M. degree 
from Eureka College, and from Drake University, 
L. L. D. He preached but one sermon while in college. 
Soon after he left college he preached one sermon at 
Tallula Illinois and was invited by the church to be- 
come pastor. He accepted, and spent three and one 
half years there in useful and happy seivice. He then 
went to Terre Haute Ind,, as pastor, and report says, 
"the church grew and missions were planted and 
thrived." From there he came to Des Moines and de- 



480 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

scribed "The Ideal Pastor" in a sermon, The result 
was a call to this fruitful field. We could not report 
his work here without writing a history of the church- 
es of Christ in this city. (This, by the way would 
make good reading.) We write but one sentence and 
leave our readers to read between the lines: In 
thirteen years Bro. Breeden has received over 3100 
into membership into the Central church alone, not 
couniing those added under his labors in other places. 

He is tall, errect, has a far-seeing eye, a rich, deep 
voice; when he stands before an audience one feels that 
he is in the presence of one who is a born leader. His 
sermons "while full of thought and bright with rhet- 
oric," are full of gospel truth to move the people. 

His love of travel has amounted to a passion; yet 
he does not waste precious time; he goes on a journey 
to familiarize himself with all that is excellent in the 
realm of nature and art, and then rbturns to his work 
with renewed vigor. Last year he, accompanied by 
his wife and son, took an: extended tour abroad, visit- 
ing many countries of Europe and making a lengthy 
sojourn in Palestine. While he has many calls to lec- 
ture he does not allow this to interfere with his work 
as a minister. His wife, in her quiet earnest way, is 
ever ready to do her part. Evangelist Updike who 
spent six weeks in his home, says, "His home is as 
perfect as a home can be; his wife, true, honest and 
reserved in her ways but powerful in her influence, 
and a perfect Christian lady." 

We have been asked our oppionof the "Institution- 
al work" he has recently organized in the Centarl 
Church. We have this to say: when under his leader- 
ship, we see that church welcoming both poor and 
rich, helping in every grand enterprize inaugurated by 
Disciples of Christ, saving sinners and sanctifying 
saints, we are sure "something good" will come out of 
the "Institutional Idea." Work will be done to bring 
joy to human hearts and in the presence of the angels. 



"A WORLD-WIDE CRUSADE FOR CHRIST." 

"Go ye into all the world." — Jesus. 
Beyond question Jesus was the first great 
leader and teacher of history, to deliberately 
announce a world-wide religious crusade, hav- 
ing for its object, not the extension of govern- 
mental and military rule but the enlighten- 
ment and redemption of humanity. With the 
majestic sweep of divine authority he severed 
the vine of religion from state allegiances and 
temptations as from a deadly Campagna and 
gave it the Eucalyptus of purely spiritual aims 
for a support. Moreover he made it univer- 
sally germinal. With what wonderful signifi- 
cance did the great Missionary use the word 
''world." He himself was the light of the 
"world." He came not to judge but to save 
the "world." He sent his disciples into the 
"world." His gospel was to be preached by 
them in all the "world." Their message was 
to be "God so loved the World that He gave 
His son." But in these sentences we vibrate 
onlj a few strings of the great world-harp of 
Christianity. If we had power and time to 
touch the other cords and sound the full mel- 
ody of the enlarged harp the soul would be 
enchanted and perchance overpowered by the 
flrood of divine harraonj. In perfect accord 



482 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

with this world-wide mission which permeates 
every portion of the New Testament Jesus 
migrated from place to place the friend of 
all and the teacher of the race. 

It was the glory of Jesus, the primal mis- 
sionary to our world, that he reversed the 
genius of religion, which had always been 
local and circumscribed aad attached it for- 
ever to "man as a citizen of the world." In 
two thousand years not one religious idea or 
gleam of prophecy had broken the confines of 
Hebrew exclusiveness and crossed the sea to 
the classic world. Palestine lay beside Greece 
for hundreds of years with only an arm of the 
Mediterranean between, but no psalm of David 
seems ever to have passed to where Homer 
held a harp in Athens. But when the Ideal 
Missionary came every wind that wafted a 
merchantship bore a hymn, a prayer, a chris- 
tian thought to the "regions beyond." To 
Him there were no geographical or national 
lines. The Chinese built a wall that they 
might exclude foreigners, India erected about 
herself a huge barrier of caste, far more im- 
penetrable, and thus hedged the approaches 
to her favor. But with a holy and heavenly 
enthusiasm for humanity, the Christ leaped 
every barrier of caste, commerce and exclu- 
siveness, and planted the ensign of the new 
religion upon the walls of the world— a proph- 
ecy of an universal conquest. 

The first century was eminently amission- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 483 

ary century. But the immediate followers of 
Christ i^reierred the home field. They would 
have been willing, save Paul, not only to begin 
at Jerusalem but also to end there. And ^o 
persistent were they in tarrying there, even 
after they were endued with power from on 
high, that God had to [disperse them by per- 
secution until "they went everywhere preach- 
ing the word." Such a policy as their short- 
sighted wisdom had determined upon would 
have run athwart the whole genius of the 
Christian religion. It would have ''strangled 
Christianity in its Judean cradle and left its 
bleaching bones as the only relics of a church 
which trampled on the Savior's last command- 
ment." 

Like some of us the early disciples were 
doubtless saying "there are heathen enough 
at home." But as Phillips Brooks so finely 
said : ' 'That plea sounds more shameful every 
year. What can be more shameful than to 
make the imperfection of our Christiantiy at 
home an excuse for not doing our work abroad. 
It is as shameless as it is shameful. It pleads 
for indulgence and exemption on the groundof 
its own neglect and sin. It is like the mur- 
derer of his father asking the Judge to have 
pity on his orphanhood." But God, instead 
of permitting the early church to fold her 
arms and sink into sinful somnolence com- 
pelled her to carry the light to people who sat 
in darkness. And what was the result? 



484 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Within seventy years after he had received 
his ''marching order" the Missionary had pen- 
etrated every civilized land from Babylon to 
Spain. The feet of the Christ-herald, shod 
with the preparation of the gospel of peace 
had followed the track of Cyrus, Alexander 
and Caesar, the great conquerors of the East. 
The strategic points — the great cities of the 
Roman world — had been occupied by the sol- 
diers of the kingdom of heaven. The glad 
tidings of great joy had been proclaimed not 
alone to "elegant Epesus and commercial 
Alexandria and royal Rome and luxurious 
Corinth, but to balmy Sicily, queenly Crete 
and fragrant Cyprus and by the pyramids and 
bronzed obelisks of Egypt." 

The general decay of faith in the old relig- 
ion was highly favorable to the march of the 
missionary and his mission in that early peri- 
od. Once every hill and fountain and grove 
had its deities, its fauns and dryads, but there 
were disintegrating forces already underlying 
this wholesale pantheon, the power of philos- 
ophy^ and the light of dawning reason recog- 
nizing in the inability of the Gods to succor 
in distress or bring victory in battle, hence 
the higher religion made conquests easily and 
everywhere, even in the palaces of the Cea- 
sars. But the nineteenth century is honored 
above its fellows with the high honor of being 
pre-eminently the missionary century of the 
qQristian ages. Although the church had at 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 485 

the outset the divine commission to preach 
the gospel to every creature, and although she 
has passed through 1900 years of historic 
development, never until this century did she 
fully grapple with her world-wide mission. 
Early in this century the ideal missionary, 
who had been idle or somnolent for nearly 
1700 years, save a brief spasmodic crusade in 
the sixth century, reread his "marching 
order " and girded himself for his work. The 
result is the mightiest movement and march 
of history, the era of universal missions, the 
crowning glory of the century. Let us mark 
the extent of this world-wide crusade and 
measure, in part at least, the magnitude of 
its conquests. 

Early in the eighteenth century some 
exiled Moravians living on the estate of Count 
Zinzendorf in Upper Lusatia sent the mis- 
sionary to Greenland and the West Indies. 
Twelve years later their representatives tegan 
missions in North America, and one year later 
still in South America. In 1754 Jamaica was 
the field of their endeavor, and in 1790 they 
began work in Labrador. 

But in 1792 we behold a man of God will- 
ing to pioneer for the British host. In that 
year Dr. Carey preached in Nottingham his 
famous sermon from the words uttered by the 
evangelical prophet: "Enlarge the place of 
thy tent and let them stretch forth the cur- 
tains of thy habitations; spare not; lengthen 



486 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

thy cords and strengthen thy stakes for thou 
shalt break forth on the right hand and on the 
left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles 
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." 
That sermon resulted in the organization of 
the first British society for the propagation of 
the Gospel in heathen lands. The missionary 
then set his face toward India, the ^'Gibraltar 
of paganism." But India was fortified on 
every side and seemed well nigh impregnable 
to the attacks of the missionary, with no artil- 
lery but the simple gospel. Two great relig- 
ions, wily, strategic, and seductive — Braham- 
inism and Mohammedanism — held dominant 
sway and besides a "system of social caste, 
with rigid and frigid ice-fetters that no sun 
ever melted kept manhood locked up and 
prevented all social fusion and homogeni- 
ety. But undismayed the soldiers of the 
Prince of Peace waged their good warfare 
against their giant foes with right and eon- 
science and with God to support and inspire 
them. The smoke of battle has not yet cleared 
away, but what do we behold? India is now 
dotted with the fortresses of Jehovah and all 
her large cities are sentineled with Christian 
churches. The suttee has been abolished." 
The widow instead of expiating her supposed 
crime on the funeral pyre is rescued by the 
teaching of the missionary, lives a life of pur- 
ity and usefulness. The Ganges no longer, 
like a greedy monster, swallows up the inno- 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 487 

cent children thrown into her merciless jaws 
by superstitious mothers. And the religion 
of Jesus cooperates with the railroad in break- 
ing down that fearful system of caste. Buddh- 
ism no longer advances while Mohammedan- 
ism languishes in its conquests and must go; 
^ 'while blazoned as on heaven's eternal noon 
the cross leads generatations on." 

Behold now the conquering footsteps of 
the missionaries in the world-wide crusade, 
as they turned in the pathway of commerce 
toward the "sunrise kingdom." For ages the 
inhabitants of Japan had been walled up by 
mountains of prejudice and superstition, and 
its ports were closed to the evangel of God. 
With a squadron of seven ships of war, Com- 
modore Perry sailed into the bay of Yeddo in 
1853. As the Lord^s Day broke over the sur- 
rounding hills he laid the stars and stripes 
upon the capstan of the ship, placed the open 
Bible on it, and read the One Hundredth 
Psalm. His crew then joined in the thrilling 
melody of Old Hundred. The Psalm was the 
prelude to a commercial treaty which opened 
up the Empire of the Mikado to Christian 
Civilization. Then came the missionary. 

His campaign is less than a generation 
old, but what wondrous conquests! The 
strongest system of feudalism that history 
records has been thrown off. The observance 
of the Lord's Day has been legalized by statu- 
tory enactment. Large and flourishing Chris- 



488 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

tian universities have been established. And 
the newspaper, that swift messenger of Chris- 
tian thought and eiviliiation in heathen lands, 
is already more numerous in Japan than in all 
Asia besides. Not long since, when the gov- 
ernment was hard pressed for funds, it pro- 
posed to sell a bronsse and silver Buddha, 60 
feet high, for old metal. 

Tracy ssljs: "It is possible that Japan 
may becomC'Christian by royal decree in a day. ' ' 
But it must become Christian by the roy- 
al triumphs of God's victorious forces within 
a few decades. 

Let your eye now turn for another mom- 
ent upon another part of this same continent. 
"The Myriad Mile Wall" of China is said to 
be the most gigantic defence ever built by 
man. But the Chinese language was even a 
greater barrier than the wall to the march of 
the missionary. But happily the difficulties 
of the language have been compassed and that 
well nigh pregnable wall thrown down. Al- 
most at the beginning of this century, feeble 
and single-handed, the missionary began a 
silent attack upon this nation of atheists, idol- 
ators, gamblers, opium smokers and drunk- 
ards. In twelve years Robert Morrison gave 
to China a Bible. In 1858 the Atlantic cable 
flashed the news that China was open not only 
for commerce but for the gospel. Six years 
ago, when Dr. Williams arrived in Canton, 
there was only one Chinese convert in the 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 489 

Oriental Empire. Besides the penalty for 
teaching foreigners the Chinese language was 
death. Today there are more than 50.000 
Christians in China. Buddhist temples are 
being changed into houses of Christian wor- 
ship and their helpless idols thrown into the 
wayside ditch. The shot and shell of divine 
truth is being poured into the hearts of the 
swarming millions, and the holy war shall not 
cease until a truly Celestial Empire enfold the 
Mongolian race between the snowy mount- 
ains and the bellow Sea, 

But now turn your attention in the oppo- 
site direction and watch the missionary in his 
globe-encircling march as with cohorts and 
battalions, buttressed by nearly 50 societies, 
he attacks the citadels of Satan in the dark 
continent. To pay this debt to Simon the 
Cyrenaen and the Eunuch of Etheopia, that 
grand man of God — RobertMoffatt — pioneered 
amid the jungles and the malaria, and the cruel 
tribes of that benighted land ; and after him 
his son-in-law David Livingstone that consu- 
mate hero, who dared four attacks of fever 
and then died upon his knees surrounded 
only by the sable sons of Africa that he might 
open up its dark recesses to the missionary. 
His successor, Henry M. Stanley, a mission- 
ary by brevit, * 'after 999 days from Zanzibar 
emerged from the mouth of the Congo and 
completed the transit of Africa." The 
Congo Free State with its fifty millions of 



490 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

people is dominated by the Christian king of 
Belgium and in all its wide area covering 2000 
miles of sea cost, the slave pen has been 
abolished and the church and school sub- 
stituted. And we today of America and 
Europe are watching the signals of God's 
hand as he is leading on the mighty Chris- 
tian hosts toward the complete emancipation 
of the descendants of Ham. The dark contin- 
nent grows light under our eyes. 

But the most phenominal victories for 
Christ are to be found in the islands of the 
sea and among the lowest and most degrad- 
ed types of humanity. The isles no longer 
wait for His law. They have already re- 
ceived it. In the ^'Morning Star" the mis- 
sionary sails the South seas and touches the 
Fiji islands, where the ferocious canibalism 
held high carnival and the inhabitants built 
their houses upon living bodies and launched 
their canoes upon human beings as rollers; 
whose deeds of cruelty and blood were too atro- 
cious to be described by human language; but 
touching it, within a few years he transformed 
it as by the magic wand of a magician ; and 
now there is not an avowed heathen in all 
Figi where fifty years ago there was not a 
single native Christian. 

He touches Madagascar and almost in a 
day she put on the beautiful garments of 
Christian civilization; her Queen embraced the 
Gospel and enthroned the Bible, and the pagan 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 491 

abominations were forever uprooted. 

He touched the Hawaiian group with its 
unspeakable polutions, where two-thirds of 
the children were strangled or buried alive 
and the entire island was given over to a 
savage type of false religion; and instead of 
ferocity, faith reigned, and instead of lust, 
love. And now a congregation of 4.500, the 
largest in the world, assembles regularly on 
the island to worship the true God. 

He touched Tahiti of the Society group 
and the issue is thus finely told by Charles 
Darwin, one of the most colossal names in 
modern science: "Human sacrifices and the 
power of an idolatrous priesthood, a system of 
profligacy unparalleled elsewhere, infanticide 
the consequence of that system, bloody wars 
where neither women nor children were 
spared; all these have been abolished and 
dishonesty, intemperance and licentiousness 
have been greatly reduced by the introduc- 
tion of Christanity. " No wonder this same 
great contributor to Foreign missions says 
elsewhere: "The lesson of the missionary is 
the enchanter's wand." But these exhibitions 
of missionary conquest mark only the mis^ 
sion tides in the affairs of nations, a few of the 
numerous currents permeating the sea of 
pagan humanity; but they are enough to show 
the coloring of the entire sea. 

Thus in every direction, upon all the 
continents and upon all the seas we see the 



492 DOCTRINE AMD LIFE 

conquering footsteps of the missionary. 
What hiftders the conquest of unclaimed 
territory and the pouring of Christianity's 
blessed illumination upon new millions of 
earth's benighted children? He has success- 
fully vanquished all foes and forces; what 
hinders the maintanence of his reign? And 
what hinders me from declaring with the 
sovereignity of certainity that the march of 
the growing Christian host is keeping time to 
the nearing drum beats of that triumphant 
day when all the nations, rounded in propor- 
tions of purity and radiant in the light of 
love, shall become the kingdoms of our Lord 
and His Christ and He shall reign forever 
and ever. 

But the intensely pratical inquiry remains: 
when are we going to win the whole world 
for Christ? "what is our attitude toward this 
glory-laden-march"? Three are possible: an- 
tipathy, apathe, and sympathy. Antipathy is 
ground for infidels and skeptics only. He 
can dare to oppose this all-benificent cam- 
paign who believes in no God and no future 
for man, and recognizes no obligation to 
* either. 

The attitude of apathy is alas character- 
istic of by far the greater portion of those 
who profess to be children of God. I have 
sometimes thought that much of this comes 
from ignorance of the real condition of the 
Christless masses in paganism and ignorance 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 493 

also of the very first essential of the comis- 
sion. And then I have thought that the in- 
difference that covers Christendom, like a 
great pall, is largely due to a secret scepticism 
with regard to the real dangers of the heathen. 
But how much scepticism as to the condition of 
the heathen should prevail, in the presence of 
the unequivocal teaching of the word of God 
is to me a mystery. The Spirit of God which 
moved the mind and made the logic of Paul, 
through him proved to ''both Jew and Gen- 
tile that they are both under sin." He sol- 
emnly asserts that "the Gentiles have the 
law written in their hearts" and yet they 
haye so "changed the truth of God into a lie" 
Rom. 1:28, that "they are without excuse." 
"As many as have sinned without law shall 
also perish without law in the day when God 
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus 
Christ." Rom. 2:12-16. So this apathy must 
either challenge the authority of these scrip- 
tures of God or accept the fact that all man- 
kind, barbarian, Scythian, bond and free, stand 
guilty before God "for all have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:25. 
Added to this is the narcotic and aenes- 
thetic view that: "the ignorance of the heath- 
en will save them." But this bulwark of 
apathy vanishes when we hear a pagan philos- 
opher say of his people: "Our fault is not 
external to ourselves, it is within us and 
cleaves to our souls." It was a pagan poet 



494 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

who wrote: "I see and approve the better 
and follow the worse." It is not too much to 
say that they all know better than they do. 
Then we are told by apathy as a last resort 
that "the heathen are an inferior people and 
not worth saving; that only the fittest should 
survive." But Paul has taught us that there 
"is no respect of persons with God." Rom. 
2:11. But when these defenseless utterances 
are interposed as barriers between the heath- 
en and the evangel of God I hardly know 
which to wish for most; that the indifferent 
might be taught the very first principle of the 
commission, or that we might raise a new 
commission of inquirendo de lunaticus. 

But sure am I of this: that if Christian 
unconcern could once rightly get hold of two 
great principles which dominated the charac- 
ter and directed the career of the first great 
foreign missionary, apathy would be trans- 
formed into a holy and overmastering zeal 
that would halt before no obstacle in carrying 
the Gospel to those who sit in darkness. The 
first is tersely transcribed in these words 
from 1st Thess: 2:4 : "We are allowed of God 
to be put in trust with the Gospel." The 
Christian is a trustee. He has received the 
bread of life not for himself alone but for dis- 
tribution to humanity. But antipathy is an 
embezzler and apathy is a defaulter. In deny- 
ing "the lamp of life" to "man benighted" we 
stand condemned before God for faithlessness 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 495 

to the trust which he has committed to us. In 
giving us the second antidote to apathy Paul, 
in Rom. 1:14, makes use of a striking commer- 
cial figure to set forth his obligation: "T am 
a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Bar- 
barians, both to the wise and to the unwise." 
Paul a debtor to the Greek? What for? Not 
for anything he had received from them? No. 
But for what he had received for them, or on 
their behalf. The real creditor is the Lord 
Jesus Christ. But as Taylor finely observes 
"that which we owe Him, He has made over 
to our fellow men, and He asks us to pay it to 
them; and we are both dishonest to them and 
unfaithful to Him if we forbear." The word 
debt, according to the interpretation of the 
Roman Law, has a double significance. It sig- 
nifiies both the duty to pay and the right to 
receive. The heathen have a right to receive 
from us that with which we have been endowed, 
that which we have received in trust for them. 
And how shall we escape if we neglect them ? 
Thus we are prepared I trust to appre- 
ciate the attitude of genuine sympathy to the 
missionary march. Antipathy is atheistic, 
apathy is sinful, but sympathy is gloriously 
christian. But the great question, yet pro- 
foundly practical, is how may we manifest the 
attitude of sympathy? In rapid and resist- 
less answers to that question I remark first: 
By persona] payment. Brethren whal is our 
relation to the wealth of the world? Untold 



496 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

stores of gold are placed in our custody. But 
what for? To spend upon ourselves or to 
hoard ? We possess not a dollar nor an acre 
of our own. God is the supreme banker and 
landlord of the universe. "The silver and 
the gold are mine'' said he by his prophet. 
*'And the cattle upon a thousand hills. " "Be- 
hold all souls are mine." And "remember 
who it is that giveth thee power to get 
wealth." We are only stewards intrusted 
with wealth that we may use it to the glory of 
God and the honor of Jesus Christ His Son. 
What therefore are we to give his cause? 
Simply the overflow when our cup of provis- 
ion and blessing is full? Shame on such ben- 
evolence. We must give until we f eeJ it, until 
we make a positive sacrifice for Christ, then 
we can enjoy the luxury of giving. The Old 
Testament tithe was probably the minimum 
the Jew could give unto God, but the New Tes- 
tament tithe is the whole ten parts after ones 
own are provided for. Does this seem unrea- 
sonable? Then measure the statement by this 
fact: the Jew's religion was local and station- 
ary while our religion is world-wide and world- 
conquering. 

But we may also manifest sympathy in 
this great march of saints, philanthropists, 
heroes, and noble hearts by personal presence. 
In the kingdom of God service is gold. And 
never was need more imminent and urgent. 
*^Truly the harrest is great but the laborers 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 497 

are few." Ask for a fruitful field? No home 
field can compare with the foreign for an equal 
outlay of men, means and money; no home 
field ever brought returns so ample. Do you 
seek to be identified with a movement of great 
magnitude? Christian missions is the most 
colossal enterprise ever presented to the 
mind or undertaken by the heart of man. Do 
you ask for a sufficient motive to heroism? 
Here it is. I have no sympathy with the her- 
oism that wastes itself in the frozen north in 
fruitless effort to find the secret of the North 
pole, locked in ice. But in the mission enter- 
prise there is satisfaction for dead and living 
heroes. The missionary charges a fort that 
is worth taking. Even if life is lost, it is well 
lost. It will be found again with stars in its 
for head. Are you deterred by thought of 
hardship and privation? Why men do for 
worldly wealth and adventure every day al], 
and more than you are asked to do, for the lov- 
ing Jesus. 

How grandly did St. Xavier, the great 
Catholic missionary, answered his friends who 
endeavored to turn him aside from his cher- 
ished labor by a recital of the dangers and 
difficulties of the march: 

Hush you! Close your dismal story. 

What to me are tempests wild? 

Heroes on their way to Glory 

Mind not pastime for a child. 

'Tis for souls of men I'm sailing 

Blow ye winds, North, South, East, West, 



498 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

Though the storms be round me wailing 
There'll be calm within my breast. 

Brethren what is your passion? The 
acquisition of wealth? The passion for gold 
seems growing into a frenzy on the part of the 
people. But the pursuit of property that has 
no God in it will make a pirate out of a sailor 
and a Judas out of a disciple. Whom do you 
serve? The story of Tarpeia has a lesson for 
all generations. She bargained with the Sab- 
ines to open the gates of Rome to their armies 
for the golden ornaments they wore. She 
was crushed to death beneath the ponderous 
heap. Similar was the unhappy fate of Midas. 
Being promised that his supreme wish might 
be gratified, he desired that everything he 
touched might be turned into gold. The 
desire was realized and proved to be his hell. 
These mythic stories point toward the con- 
clusion of the Christ: "Ye cannot serve God 
and Mammon." If we serve Him we must 
consecrate our wealth to him and by personal 
payment join in the march of his hosts as they 
encompass the nations. And this we must do 
because we feel the sunrise of His self-sacri- 
fice and seek to respond to His sublime gener- 
osity. O the infinitude of his gifts; they can 
not be expressed by human language. Even 
the inspired words of scripture strain and 
quiver under their superhuman freightage of 
thought. He gave the earth with its fulness, 
the hills and the vales, the sun and stars and 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 499 

O marvel of loving beneficence! renouncing 
affluence and accepting penury, lie gave him- 
self and realized for us Ms best beatitude, "It 
is more blessed to give than to receive." 
Shall we not give like the Son, the King of 
Heaven, and like the Sun,|the king of day: 

Forever the sun is pouring its. gold 
On a hundred worlds that beg and borrow; 

His warmth he squanders on summits cold, 
His wealth on homes of want and sorrow, 

To withhold his largess of precious light 

Is to bury himself in eternal night. 

To live — IS to give. 

He is dead, whose hand is not open wide 
To help the need of a human brother; 

He doubles the length of the life's long ride, 
Who gives his fortunate place to another. 

And a thousand million lives are his 

Who carries the world in his sympathies. 
To give — is to live. 

But we are reminded by the dark places 
on the missionary map that the heroic march, 
eclipsing that of Napoleon over the Alps and 
of Xerxes over the Hellespont, is not yet 
ended. The beneficent campaign of the mis- 
sionary is to-day at white heat and "there 
remaineth very much land to be possessed." 
Beyond the Soudan a hundred tribes, embrac- 
ing more than a hundred millions of people, 
lie in the land of death- shade with not one sin- 
gle missionary station to hold aloft the torch 
of the living word. 

And in inland China; away from the coast 



500 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

lines, are three hundred millions who never 
heard of Christ. A few years ago some her- 
alds of the cross traveled a thousand miles 
from east to west and found not a single mis- 
sionary station. The missionary must encom- 
pass all these in his world-embracing philan- 
thropy and crusade for Christ. 

But the day will come when the march 
will end and the soldiers of Christ will be 
mustered out of the earthly service because 
the victory will be won. 

Yea, the world shall realize with glorious 
exaltation the fulfillment of the glowing proph- 
ecy "and on his head were many crowns." I 
see the grand procession gathering to the cor- 
onation. Yonder are Carey and Judson with 
the many jewelled diadem of India and Bur. 
mah, and as He stoops to receive their gift I 
hear them say: "Blessed are our eyes; for 
we have seen the travail of our souls and are 
satisfied," Following these are Hepburn, 
Williams and Xavier together with their co- 
workers on the field of Japan. As they 
approach the King I hear them say: "The 
crown of the hermit nation is thine also." 
And yonder marching toward the throne I see 
the missionary hosts of China led by Robert 
Morrison. And what is that they bear up 
before the presence of the king? The same 
burden they bore upon their hearts through 
so many weary marches: "disenthralled 
China." And as the brow of Jesus received 



BY IOWA WRITERS, 501 

the coronet we hear them say: "At last, at 
last China is truly a Celestial Empire." But 
who are these in bright array, coming up out 
of great tribulation. These are Moffatt and 
Livingstone surrounded by the dark-hued 
sons of Africa bearing a crown glistening 
above them all. As the loving Christ takes 
the gift we hear them exclaim: "Blessed be 
God, the Dark Continent has come to its trans- 
figuration." And then all the great host of 
proclaimers and the myriads of the redeemed 
shout in chorus sublime: "Thanks be to God 
who giveth us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." And the welcoming introit of 
celestial choirs send back the refrain: "Thanks 
be to God who giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." 



GEORGE LEWIS BROKAW. 

It is a pleasure to follow the course of men commit- 
ted to high-born principles, especially if the motives 
be Christian, the strongest incentives to good. He is 
a benefactor who displaces error with truth, and bor- 
ders human pathway with flowers instead of weeds and 
thorns. Such feelings of pleasure came with the study 
of the life of George Lewis Brokaw, which began at the 
farm home of his parents, Aaron S. and Lydia Ann 
Brokaw, in Bureau county, Illinois, July 18, 1849. 
His first years were spent as most farmers' boys — at 
school in winter and work in summer. 

At the age of eighteen he attended a meeting held 
by N. A. McConnell and G. W. Mapes and was led by 
them to Christ. He was baptized by Bro, Andrew 
Ross. While teaching in the following year he began 
to preach the "unsearchable riches of Christ." To 
prepare himself for efficient work he entered Abingdon 
College and completed his course. From Eureka Col- 
lege in Jane, 1873, he received the Master's degree. 
It is noteworthy that he preached during his college 
years at points adjacent to Abingdon, and received for 
all his time and service one suit of clothes and $20 in 
cash. Without taking a permanent pastorate, he min- 
i^jtered at Dana and Rutland, 111., till March, 1874; 
then with Liscomb, Iowa, as a center, he preached 
three years in Marshall and Story Counties, followed 
by a successful pastorate of the same length at Rose- 
ville. 111. At Liscomb he met Miss Mattie H., daugh- 
ter of Bro. H. H. Wilson, who became his wife, and 
has been in the truest sense a helpmeet for him. They 
have four children: Dura, Roy, Zoe (who is on the 
other shore) and Zell. 



BY IOWA WRITERS. 503 

In 1880 he was called to Monroe, Wis., where, at 
the end of one year, he was elected State Evangelist by 
the joint Boards of the G. C. M. C. and W. C. M. S. 
Of his three years' service in this capacity Bro. B. W. 
Johnson wrote the following tribute: 

"G. L. Brokaw is the right man in the right place. 
He is a young man, but old in experience and judg- 
ment. He is a tireless worker, is never discouraged 
and proposes to contin ue his effort at any point until 
he has accomplished what he undertakes. As a result 
of his labors there are twice as many preachers in the 
state as when he began. Almost every congregation 
has preaching at least half of the time, while the 
stronger congregations have preaching every Lord's 
day." 

From 1883 to 1886 Iowa claimed his service as 
evangelist, but at the end of those years he accepted 
the call of the G. 0. M. C. and became pastor at St. 
Paul, and later at Milwaukee. Albia, Iowa was his 
next field, which was abundant in its harvest — nearly 
one hundred souls gathered into the church during his 
first protracted meeting, the house of worship was 
enlarged, and the membership awakened to greater 
activity in the Master's vineyard. 

At the Iowa State Convention in 1890 he was chosen 
Corresponding Secretary, which office he held till 1895, 
except the last two years, in which he was relieved of 
the secretaryship by the appointment of Bro. A. M. 
Haggard to that work, he devoting all his time to evan- 
gelistic labors. 

In person Bro. Brokaw is five feet eight inches 
high, weighs about 150 pounds, has a pleasant face, 
high forehead, black eyes, and dark hair, with a 
sprinkling of gray. In address he is quiet, but earn- 
est; and there is a practical vein in all his discourses. 
His sermon points are aptly illustrated, and doctrinal 
differences are presented fairly and fearlessly, but in 



504 DOCTRINE AND LIFE 

a kindly spirit. His greatest strength is in his strong 
will and business tact. Where others would have 
given up, he has persevered. In Iowa alone, against 
opposition, he organized county seat churches, which 
now represent a membership of 3,255. Since retiring 
from the position of State Evangelist, he has estab- 
lished, without financial assistance, Ihe Christian Index 
and by his characteristic push made it self-supporting 
and a welcomed weekly visitor in the homes of Iowa 
brethren. Figures do not measure influence. He is a 
man of pure life, good education, in the prime of his 
years and one from whom we shall yet receive, by voice 
and pen, the help of a servant of God. 

I, N. McCash. 
Pastor University Place Church. 



DEC 28 Ttt9b 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

019 566 818 8 



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